The Spice of Life
by Catwho
Summary: A mysterious illness strikes the Musk, and Prince Herb travels to Japan for the cure. KodachiHerb pairing, requested by PrinceHerb of the Delphi Fanfic Forum. To be resumed...
1. One

* * *   
  
Somewhere, sometime, in L-Space . . .   
  
* * *   
  
Deep within the halls of the L-Space, a familiar   
senshi walked slowly among the books, browsing the various realities   
that existed. Her fingers brushed past thousands of volumes, many of   
them thin, many of them thick, all humming with potential at her light   
touch.   
  
It was Setsuna's day off, and she was going to enjoy it immensely.   
  
None of the other Sailor Senshi knew of the eldest guardian's second job   
-- Librarian of L-Space. It was just as well. Having that sort of   
knowledge bank at one's disposal tended to make one forget reality.   
Were any of the other senshi, especially Usagi, to learn of her   
moonlighting in such a place, she'd never be able to make them leave the   
Library.   
  
For in these books . . . in these universes, the Senshi lived an   
infinite number of different lives.   
  
Not finding anything interesting in her current section, the Librarian   
wandered into another aisle, making a few right turns in reality and   
ending up in another universe altogether. She passed an orangutang   
along the way and waved at him, turning the corners of her mouth up in   
the slightest hint of a smile for his benefit. The orangutang waved   
back with a toothy grin and loped along down another row until he   
disappeared among his own works of fiction. He too was an Librarian,   
although his world was far, far away from Earth's solar system   
and the library that Setsuna had entered.   
  
All libraries in all universes are connected. Even universes where the   
Librarians themselves are only a work of fiction. That is the secret of   
L-Space . . . and the burden of the Librarians. With all the knowledge   
of the Multiverse (or as Setsuna referred to it, the Whole Sort of   
General Mish-Mash -- Douglas Adams had a special place in her memory for   
coining the perfect phrase for the sprawling network of universes she   
controlled) collected in one place, L-Space was a very dangerous,   
dangerous place indeed.   
  
That didn't mean that they couldn't *read* about the other universes, of   
course. Setsuna had, on occasion, peered into some of the crazy worlds   
where she was a fictional character, and had a good laugh. She had also   
checked into some of the worlds were she was a real person, too, only   
living an entirely different reality from her current one. Some of   
those universes were frightening indeed.   
  
Setsuna wasn't in the mood for a story about herself, though. She was   
in the mood for something from one of the more chaotic universes where   
she existed only as a fictional character. The green haired woman bit   
her lip, closed her eyes, and ran her index finger across a row at   
random -- and pulled out a slender volume, which looked quite new.   
  
Smiling to herself genuinely this time, the Senshi found a comfortable   
chair in short order and sat down for a nice quiet afternoon to herself   
with a fresh Ranma 1/2 universe story. Crazy writers, always coming up   
with more insanity . . .   
  
-------------   
  
The Spice of Life   
  
An Herb/Kodachi fic   
Commissioned by Prince Herb ^_^   
Written by Cat Who   
Beta read by Rezantis   
with special thanks to the Ranma 1/2 fanfic forum   
  
--------------   
  
* * *   
  
Musk Kingdom, China   
  
* * *   
  
"My lord," a wizened vizier pleaded as he followed a young man down the   
palace's main corridor, "you cannot go in to see him. We know not by   
what mechanism the illness is transmitted yet! Were you to come down   
sick as well, there would be nothing that--"   
  
"Silence!" the young man barked angrily, and turned to face the   
assistant, whirling around so quickly his hide armor swirled away from   
his body for a moment. "Do you think I don't know the risks? But I   
can't leave him alone in there, maybe to die, without seeing him."   
  
"Surely Lime would not want to endanger you, my lord," his vizier   
insisted.   
  
The young man closed his eyes for a brief moment. To the average   
observer, he looked exotic; his hair grew in distinct patches of pink,   
white, and blue. His clear, light eyes twinkled dangerously within   
otherwise normal Chinese features. His armor was attached to pure white   
clothes, which highlighted his slightly tanned skin.   
  
However, the royal appearance was completed by the look of power he   
wore; in the bearing of his shoulders, the straight lift of his head,   
and the grace of his movements even beneath heavy armor.   
  
His eyes opened with a snap, the moment of indecision broken. "Whether   
it puts me danger or not, I can't just leave him alone," Prince Herb   
said quietly, and continued walking down the hallway to the area of the   
palace that was currently being used as an infirmary. "Oh, and the   
Amazon leader I contacted should be here shortly. Escort her to the   
throne room when she arrives. I will not be long."   
  
The sickness had spread like wildfire through the people of Musk in only   
two days. It was like nothing documented in their extensive histories.   
Even the young men, isolated from the main population as they had been,   
were extremely susceptible due to their close quartered training. Half of   
them had definitely contracted the mysterious illness, and the rest were   
exhibiting symptoms already.   
  
Lime had started coughing yesterday morning. By lunch, he could barely   
stand.   
  
Prince Herb held a cloth over his face to breath and picked his way   
through the groaning men on the floor. The Musk peoples were already   
few in number. While none of them had died yet, they had no idea   
whether the disease was fatal or not.   
  
Tucked in a far corner, segregated from the main group, lay the young   
men who were still in training. Following tradition, a curtain had been   
placed around them, so that they could not see the few females in the   
hall who were sick. Had they been well, no doubt they'd be straining to   
catch an illegal glimpse of a woman.   
  
"Lime," Prince Herb whispered when he saw his servent, hating the way   
his voice cracked. Mint was already there, crying openly. Lime,   
normally as strong as a tiger, lay prone and weak, his face pale and   
sweaty as his body battled the mysterious illness.   
  
"Herb-sama is here," Mint whispered to Lime, who opened his eyes a crack   
in acknowledgement and tried to sit up.   
  
"Don't strain yourself," Herb scolded, and knelt down beside the fallen   
boy.   
  
"I'm sorry, Herb-sama," Lime whispered. "Just . . . so tired."   
  
"No need to apologize." Herb was trying to keep his own pain out of his   
voice. Lime was more than a servent. He and Mint were Herb's best   
friends in the world, too. Seeing him like this was hurting Herb in   
ways he'd never known it was possible to hurt.   
  
"Herb-sama is going to find a cure, aren't you Herb-sama?" Mint queried,   
searching the prince's face for confirmation.   
  
"Of course. No matter what it takes. If I have to travel to the ends   
of the earth." Herb meant it, too. He had a duty to his people to keep   
them safe and well.   
  
"I'm glad," Lime whispered, and shifted uncomfortably on his pallet.   
The thin blanket covering him slid halfway off with the movement, and   
Mint quickly readjusted it. "I'm . . . I'm not ready to die, Herb-sama.   
I still . . . have things I want to do." He was having trouble getting   
the words out, as his breathing was growing more difficult by the   
moment.   
  
"You're not going to die," Herb said sharply.   
  
"I never got to kiss a woman," Lime finished, and closed his eyes again,   
his head lolling to the side. Mint touched his neck with a finger.   
  
"Unconscious again." Mint looked down at the fallen comrade, his large   
eyes appearing even more enormous with stress. He had stayed up all   
night with Lime.   
  
Herb dashed away a single tear and cursed himself for being weak. Now   
was not the time for sobbing like a woman. Hundreds of men lay dying   
around him, and it was up to him to help them in any way he could.   
  
"Stay with him," Herb said, and touched Mint's shoulder. The wolf boy   
nodded in acknowledgement and settled down, his chin on his knees,   
willing his friend to survive.   
  
Herb left the sick room, his heart burning with anger at the invisible   
battle the Musk were being forced to fight. It was unfair. There was   
nothing that he, the Prince of the Musk, could do to help them.   
  
At least his father was off traipsing around China, and so he was safe.   
If the king was to contract the sickness, that would leave Herb duty   
bound to remain in the kingdom in case he died. As it was, however, he   
was free to leave if required.   
  
The throne room was nearly empty, which suited Herb just fine. He   
entered quickly from the side, and, foregoing the throne, stood in front   
of the dais. The Amazon medicine woman had arrived.   
  
"Calling for help from us is completely out of character for the Musk,"   
the ancient woman said, ignoring all pretense of formality as Herb had.   
"That's why I had a feeling this was serious. Now that I'm here, I'm   
sure it is."   
  
Herb glared at the wizened crone. "Tell me what you know, woman. How   
can I cure this illness?"   
  
"If I told you all I know, it'd take decades. You're a hundred years   
too early for my kind of knowledge."   
  
Herb continued to glare angrily at the female, who cackled and leaned forward on her   
staff.   
  
"I will tell you the nature of the illness, though. Your people have   
caught the Demon Air sickness."   
  
"The what?"   
  
"Don't interrupt me . . . your Highness." The old Amazon leader knew she   
was on equal footing with the Musk prince, and so could get away with   
far more than anyone else would dare. "The Demon Air is a disease that   
strikes every five or six centuries, passing through and bringing low   
entire villages. No one knows why some catch it and others do not." She   
paused, and shifted her weight. Like most Chinese Amazon clan leaders,   
she had shrunk with age until she barely topped four feet.   
  
"Is it fatal?" Herb asked urgently.   
  
"Yes. When left untreated, the sickness continues to weaken the body.   
The victims feel little pain, but eventually grow so tired that they   
cannot wake up. They eventually fall asleep forever, and die of   
dehydration."   
  
After that statement, the chamber filled with silence. Herb's heart   
felt as though it weighed more than the rest of him, as if it were being   
pulled to the floor. No, not Lime, his mind kept chanting. Lime can't   
die. He hasn't kissed a woman yet.   
  
Neither have you, a little voice popped out of nowhere, and Herb hated   
himself for it.   
  
"Is there a cure?" he asked finally, almost dreading the answer.   
  
The Amazon woman eyed him appraisingly. "There is," she began, "but it's   
a difficult potion to make. Are you prepared to journey to another   
land?"   
  
Herb nodded firmly.   
  
"There is a spice-moss that grows on one mountain alone. When brewed at   
midnight on a full moon by a virgin witch, the spice gains magical   
properties and can cure any illness."   
  
Herb was leaning forward on the throne, gripping the armrests. His eyes   
were narrowed. "A panacea? You've got to be kidding me."   
  
"I said it was difficult." She narrowed her own eyes right back at him.   
"But you may have what it takes to retrieve the spice."   
  
"Where is the mountain?"   
  
"It's Mt. Hebereke, on Hokkaido, the northernmost island in Japan."   
  
Damn.   
  
Herb hated Japan. He had nothing but unpleasant memories of the place.   
And while his own people were struggling to preserve their true and real   
history, Japan had prostituted herself to the twentieth century. It was   
only due to his natural knack for languages that he'd even bothered to   
learn their tongue.   
  
"The journey will be the easy part, though. You've also got to find a   
female virgin witch." The Amazon cackled softly again. "There are none   
in all the tribes of the Amazons anymore, and I really doubt you've got   
any among your people. I don't sense any power among them."   
  
Despite the fact that he was bristling with anger, Herb had to agree.   
Thousands of years of selective breeding had produced a line,   
traditionally, with powerful males and weaker females. Most of the   
women came from outside, too; ones who had been cast aside by their   
clans and allowed to marry outside of them because they didn't have the   
features that clan was breeding for. While marrying into the Musk was   
an honor, for some women, they really didn't have a whole lot of choice.   
  
"So I need to go to Japan and find a witch."   
  
"A virgin witch. It won't work if she's spoiled."   
  
"Anything else ridiculous that I need to do? Carve bamboo while dancing   
naked in the street while the female witch is brewing the potion?"   
  
"You could do that if you like," the old Amazon said with a leer.   
"Invite me if you decide to."   
  
Disgusted, Herb chose not to respond to that. "How long do I have?"   
  
"Two weeks at most. The full moon is then, as well. Make sure that when   
the patients are conscious, they eat and drink as much as possible.   
They die not from the illness itself, but from dehydration and   
starvation."   
  
Two weeks . . . was not a long time.   
  
"You can stay with my cousin Kho Lon at the Cat Cafe in Tokyo like you   
did last time. She'll be able to point out the best way for you to get   
to Hokkaido from there."   
  
Herb nodded. To the few servents who were not ill, he said, "Prepare my   
ship. I'll be leaving within the hour." They scrambled to do his   
bidding. "Also, tell Mint that he is to stay here with Lime. I'll be   
going alone." He turned back to the Amazon. "Thank you," he said curtly.   
  
"Have fun in Japan!" she cackled, and started to leave. But then she   
paused. "Oh, and Kho Lon may also be able to help you find a witch. She   
had mentioned once that there was one running around Nerima."   
  
A witch. A female witch. And a spice that could cure all illnesses. Herb   
steeled himself. If he could find those things in Japan, he could   
survive going there again, no matter how miserable his last trip had   
been.   
  
* * *   
  
Several days later, Nerima Prefecture, Tokyo   
  
* * *   
  
It was a quiet, peaceful day in Nerima, for once. The skies were   
overcast, promising rain, but the wind was still. With the natural chaos   
that permeated the area, a truly peaceful day was extremely rare. Most   
of the citizens took it all in stride; after all, it meant that there   
was also never truly a *boring* day in Nerima, either. However, for the   
actual instigators of all the entertainment, a peaceful day was like a   
blank canvas, ready to be painted in shades of excitement and insanity.   
  
The painter of the day was Kodachi Kuno, age sixteen. She was perched   
high in a tree in the middle of the park, wearing her favorite   
gymnastic's leotard and clutching her infamous ribbon. Kodachi was   
poised, ready to strike, the ribbon gathered in her hands, wrapped   
around the wand. Few people had ever realized that it was the wand   
itself and not the ribbon that needed to be feared.   
  
"Soon," she whispered to herself, "soon, my darling Ranma, you'll be   
mine and mine alone."   
  
The plan was simple, really. She had left a note in Ranma's shoe locker   
that she had something he'd want very much in the park (in reality, that   
something was she herself) and that in order to retrieve it he would   
have to be in the park at precisely five PM. She would ambush him, of   
course, and she'd invited Gosunkugi to film the entire thing on   
videotape. More importantly, she'd force Ranma to drink the love potion   
she'd spent the last few weeks brewing. Potions had always been her   
specialty; sleeping draughts, paralysis poisons, and mind enchantment   
tonics were as easy for her to make as French cuisine.   
  
The love potion was safely stored in a flask, and it could be opened in   
a moment's notice. Technically, it was illegal for student witches to   
brew such a potion, but with the levels of magic that flew around Nerima   
on a daily basis no one ever noticed how often Kodachi broke the rules.   
  
No one had ever even noticed that St Hebereke's Girl's School was not,   
in fact, a Catholic school as it appeared on the surface.   
  
He approached. She tensed, ready to spring at a moment's notice.   
However, there was an unforeseen hitch in the plan; the boorish Tendou   
girl was with him. Kodachi frowned, calculating how best to dispatch of   
the unwanted competition. A good stun charm, perhaps? No, that would   
likely also distract Ranma . . .   
  
She needn't have worried. They were arguing, as usual, and she leaned   
down in order to catch their snippets of conversation.   
  
"I told you, I don't know nothin'. I have no idea who left me that   
note," Ranma complained. Akane stomped behind him.   
  
"Come on, Ranma. Something of yours has to be missing. Did Nabiki   
sneak another round of photographs for sale and then lost them?"   
  
"No! Come on, you know as well as I do that Nabiki'd never do something   
dumb like lose potential profit."   
  
Akane stopped just below Kodachi's tree, her hands on her hips.   
  
"Then what? Ranma, if you didn't lose anything here, then you shouldn't   
be here." Akane's face suddenly grew serious, and she looked around   
wildly. "It's probably a trap."   
  
Kodachi sank deeper into the shadows of the tree. The uncivilized and   
unworthy one was sometimes smarter than she appeared.   
  
"Look! I --," Ranma started, and ran his hand through his hair in   
agitation, turning around to face Akane. "It probably is a trap. But I   
had to come. You know that."   
  
Akane sighed and then did something that Kodachi never expected. She   
hugged Ranma.   
  
Through eyes red with anger Kodachi saw that he was hugging her back.   
  
"Baka," Akane murmured.   
  
"Uncute," he answered.   
  
Kodachi covered her eyes in horror. This was not working out the way   
she'd intended.   
  
"Pervert," Akane whispered, and leaned up to Ranma for a kiss.   
  
"Macho jock . . ." Ranma began, and then gave up as his lips met   
Akane's.   
  
Kodachi was stunned. Her Ranma was kissing the Tendou girl! It was   
impossible for her to comprehend. Why would he go for that fat,   
sexless, ugly girl when there was a rose like herself ripe for the   
plucking? Was it possible that Akane, too, was a -- no, she sensed no   
magic from the other girl.   
  
The love potion was clutched in her hand, forgotten.   
  
To top it all off, at that moment, the heavens opened up and it began to   
rain.   
  
Kodachi might have been able to dismiss everything she'd seen up until   
that point as a trick, but as the rain began to fall heavily, she *saw*   
Ranma . . . transform. With her own eyes. She saw the flash of light   
that came with transfiguration magic, and where Akane had been kissing a   
boy a head taller than her, she was now kissing a redheaded girl a few   
inches shorter. The two broke apart, and looked up at the sky, where   
the rain poured forth upon their heads, streaking their hair and running   
in rivulets down their necks. The rain began to drip on Kodachi as well   
in her sheltering tree.   
  
"It's a bit after five," Akane said, glancing at her watch. "Your   
missing thing isn't here."   
  
"Heh, it was probably a hoax," the little redhead said, and grabbed   
Akane's hand. "C'mon, let's go find some hot water and pick up where we   
left off."   
  
The two ran -- no, almost skipped -- out of the park.   
  
Once they were out of sight, Kodachi dropped out of the tree, unable to   
believe what she'd just seen. Yet she knew it to be true. All those   
little clues . . . that first match where the redhead had given her name   
as Ranma, that time her brother had hugged the redhead and then found   
himself hugging Ranma . . . it all made sense now.   
  
"Gosunkugi?" Kodachi called, and the sycophant appeared, shaking,   
holding the camera under his arm to keep it from getting wet.   
  
"Akane Tendou is a lesbian," he said, horrified. A trickle of blood ran   
from his nose.   
  
"Nonsense. My darling Ranma has only been placed under a curse. That   
Tendou girl hasn't got any magic in her like us, though . . ."   
  
"But she's nice, and pretty, and kind, and --"   
  
"And she has enchanted Ranma Saotome." Kodachi's face set, and she put   
her hands on her hips. "Well, no matter. I shall free my precious   
Ranma from her snare, and find a counter-curse to fix him in his proper   
form. Hand me that tape."   
  
Gosunkugi did so, and Kodachi whisked it along with the flask of love   
potion into her schoolbag to keep it from getting wet. She'd need to   
research transfiguration curses; unlike Potions and Charms, she'd always   
been horrid at Transfiguration. Then she took out her wand, and let the   
ribbon unfurl.   
  
"Black Rose Petal Storm!" she yelled, and a swirl of petals suddenly   
enveloped her. In a matter of moments she was clad in the school   
uniform of St. Hebereke's Girl's School, a black jumper over a white   
blouse.   
  
"Thank you for your help, Gosunkugi," she said, and leapt away, towards   
the school. She would spend as long as necessary finding a cure for her   
Ranma's affliction.   
  
But first, she needed to grab a bite to eat. She decided to stop at   
that charming Chinese cafe. They always made decent food, and its   
owner, Cologne, was the only person who knew that Kodachi was a witch in   
training.   
  
-------------   
  
End Chapter One


	2. Two

* * *   
Deep in L-Space   
* * *   
  
Not bad so far, Setsuna thought, turning to the next chapter with   
interest. Shame about the Ranma/Akane secondary pairing though.   
She'd never been fond of it; it was so unoriginal and boring. Even   
though the characters were seemingly incompatible, a lot of the   
universes created by the writers paired them together. Ah, well, since   
this story was obviously focusing on an even more unlikely couple,   
perhaps the person who created this particular universe was keeping   
all other things boring on purpose.   
  
Better Ranma with Akane than Shampoo, though, Setsuna added to   
herself, and shuddered. Not that she disliked the purple-haired girl.   
On the contrary, she liked her very much. She just didn't like her   
winning Ranma.   
  
She continued reading. Around her, universes were quietly created in   
the hands of writers everywhere.   
  
------------   
  
The Spice of Life   
[Chapter Two]   
An Herb/Kodachi fic   
Commissioned by Prince Herb   
Written by Cat Who   
Beta Read by Rezantis   
  
For Daddy . . .   
  
------------   
  
* * *   
Cat Cafe, Nerima District, Tokyo   
* * *   
  
"The Demon Air? Oh, that's a bad one all right," Cologne said with a   
sage nod, setting a bowl of ramen on the table. Prince Herb had   
dropped in moments ago, and was explaining her plight to the withered   
Amazon clan leader.   
  
"Your cousin Rinse said that a spice in Hokkaido might help me." Herb,   
currently in her female form, was waiting for a hot water kettle to   
finish heating so that she might return to her true self. Stupid   
curse. One little shower of rain and her shame was exposed for the   
world to see.   
  
"She must be referring to the Hebereke Moss."   
  
"Yes, she said it was on Mt. Hebereke."   
  
"Just having the spice-moss won't be enough to cure the Demon Air,   
though," Cologne said, raising one pencil thin eyebrow. "I hope she   
told you that you'll need a female virgin witch to brew it. Your   
female half doesn't qualify, you know. You're probably not a . . .   
well . . ."   
  
Herb glared at Cologne, daring her to continue.   
  
"You're not a witch." Cologne finished calmly. Herb hated herself for   
blushing. The female half did that all too easily.   
  
"Rinse said that there was a witch in Nerima."   
  
"Oh, yes, there are several witches in Nerima. A few blocks over, you   
see, is a witch's girl's school. Founded by the originator of the   
potion you're seeking to brew, no less. St. Hebereke's Girl's School   
is the most exclusive private female school in all of Tokyo. And with   
good reason. Only witches are invited to attend."   
  
Herb slammed her fist on the table. "Then I simply have to find one   
who is a virgin and take her along with me, right?"   
  
Cologne said nothing for a moment, but then went to check on the   
teakettle, which had started steaming. "Finding a virgin in Tokyo in   
this day and age is a getting bit difficult, I'm afraid. Even at an   
all girl's school. And it's not something you can exactly ask up   
front."   
  
"Why not? In the Musk kingdom, if a warrior has lain with --"   
  
"Things are different here. While the girls are segregated in schools   
occasionally, that doesn't mean they're not allowed to interact with   
males at all. And it is very rude to ask. You'll be slapped silly   
and called a pervert, even in your girl half." Cologne handed her the   
teakettle.   
  
Herb resisted the childlike urge to grumble and poured the hot water   
on her head. The liquid firmed his chin, broadened his shoulders,   
flattened his chest, and added a good foot of height to his female   
half's already tall frame. His mind changed as well. He did not   
become smarter, or less emotional, or angrier; Herb was still Herb.   
But the female half had annoyingly different ways of looking at the   
world. Female Herb found things . . . cute. He quickly dried himself   
with a towel to keep the water from cooling and reactivating the   
curse.   
  
"In a few years, Jusenkyo will hopefully be settled enough to allow   
you to get rid of that curse," Cologne said, taking the now empty tea   
kettle and refilling it. "Son-in-law will be fighting you for the   
first place in line for the Nannichuan."   
  
"He'll fight and lose in that case," Herb said fiercely. His curse   
had been brought on by his own stupidity, and it caused him far more   
embarrassment than he'd ever admit. Open water containers had been   
banned in the palace, even. He'd managed to keep it a secret from   
everyone but Lime and Mint that way, and yet it seemed as if it were   
only a matter of time before the Musk warriors caught on that their   
leader was half woman. A thought suddenly occurred to him. "Assuming   
I find a virgin witch and create the potion, will the panacea of   
Hebereke also work on curses?"   
  
Cologne turned around, and stared at him thoughtfully. Apparently,   
the idea had never occurred to her.   
  
"It might," she said slowly, pulling on her chin. "It just might. Be   
sure to try it. If it does, I wouldn't mind borrowing some of it.   
Shampoo cannot marry Son-in-Law in her condition, and he's afraid to   
marry anyone. Ridding them both of their curses would be very, very   
good."   
  
Herb nodded. It would indeed be very, very good to become a whole man   
again.   
  
"Well," Cologne said, slapping her hand on the table, "that just   
leaves the matter of finding a witch and getting you both to Mt.   
Hebereke before the full moon. It's in a week and a half, you know.   
The potion has to be brewed fresh, or else it loses potency. You'll   
have to be back in China when you make it for it to have the strength   
to cure Demon Air." A jangle at the door let Cologne know that a   
customer had entered, and she looked expectantly toward the front of   
the restaurant. "Oh ho," she said quietly. "I'd almost forgotten   
about that one."   
  
"Greetings, Elder," Kodachi Kuno said in perfect Mandarin, causing   
Herb to turn his head in surprise. "I have come for a bowl of your   
delicious ramen."   
  
"Have a seat," Cologne answered in Japanese, and motioned to the table   
nearest Herb. "I'll be with you shortly." Cologne ran to fetch a pot   
of tea.   
  
Kodachi gave a glamorous smile and sat demurely at the table, putting   
her heavy schoolbag beside her. She picked up the waiting menu and   
studied it intently, which gave Herb the opportunity to study her in   
turn.   
  
She was beautiful. Tall, like his own female half, and lithe; he   
could see that even through her heavy school uniform. Her raven hair   
was pulled to the side in a ponytail, a style that he been popular the   
decade before but which suited the girl perfectly. Her bangs had been   
teased, and they framed a flawless face. Dark, thick lashes   
emphasized her watery gray eyes. And her lips . . . they were full   
and pouty, yet dainty all at the same time.   
  
She felt him staring at her, and looked over her menu at him. Herb   
caught her eye for a moment, and then looked away, angry and   
embarrassed. Females were a distraction he could not afford.   
Jusenkyo had taught him that much. That was why he'd refused to   
interview any more after the disaster with the Ladle, despite his   
advisor's daily complaints. Having his heirs could wait until after   
he was whole again.   
  
Cologne returned with the teapot and two cups. She seated herself   
right at Kodachi's table while she waited for the girl to order.   
Apparently they were more than just acquaintances.   
  
"How are your studies, Kodachi?" Cologne said innocently, pouring them   
both tea. Herb busied himself with his bowl of ramen, but kept his   
slightly pointed ears open.   
  
"Fabulous as always. My Potions professor recommended that I consider   
a career as a professional apothecary. Potions are my specialty, you   
know."   
  
"Of course. Gotten Son-in-Law into any trouble lately?"   
  
Kodachi flushed, something that Cologne had never seen before. Herb   
found it oddly endearing.   
  
"I have not. Actually, I have a question for you. Are there any known   
cures to transfiguration curses?"   
  
Cologne managed to keep her face carefully blank. So, Kodachi had   
finally figured out Son-in-Law's plight. This was going to be too easy   
. . .   
  
"There are some. Most are impossible to do without magic, however."   
  
"That is of course no problem for me," Kodachi said with an enigmatic   
smile. "I would do anything to cure the curse that . . . that Tendou   
girl inflicted upon my beloved. How she did so with no magic is   
beyond my comprehension, but I will undo her foul sorcery and restore   
him."   
  
This time Cologne seemed to be shaking with silent laughter. Kodachi   
did not notice it, although Herb did, and it was making him angry for   
some reason he couldn't fathom.   
  
"Anything?" Cologne asked.   
  
"Anything."   
  
"Then, Prince Herb, it appears I have found you your witch." She   
turned to Herb, and gestured toward Kodachi. "Prince Herb of the Musk   
Kingdom, I present to you Kodachi Kuno. Kodachi, Witch-in-training, I   
present to you Prince Herb."   
  
Kodachi leveled another look at him that make his ears go red with   
embarrassment, and he returned the look stare for stare in an effort   
to hide his own uncomfortable reaction to her.   
  
"We were just discussing a curative for transfiguration curses. There   
is a spice-moss that the founder of your school discovered when she   
went into seclusion in Hokkaido, a spice that can supposedly cure all   
manner of illnesses -- and in all likelihood curses as well. It sounds   
like you both can help each other."   
  
Kodachi shifted her glare to Cologne, the soft demureness of moments   
before now completely gone. "Explain yourself, Elder."   
  
"Prince Herb is in need of the panacea, too. He can better explain it   
to you than I can, though." Without asking, Cologne picked up   
Kodachi's tea and set it on Herb's table. Kodachi started to object,   
but Cologne spoke again before she had a chance. "You have to work   
quickly. You only have a week and a half before it's too late, after   
all . . ."   
  
Reluctantly, Kodachi joined Herb at his table. "Your Highness," she   
said, remembering her manners, and Herb nodded in acknowledgement.   
  
"Elder, I shall partake of the creamy chicken ramen today," Kodachi   
told Cologne. The Amazon leader took her menu and left to the back to   
make it and to leave the two alone.   
  
Cologne was more than pleased with herself. She'd be helping Herb   
(fine upstanding boy, good potential match for some of the weaker   
Amazon females) AND she'd be getting rid of one of Shampoo's rivals   
for a whole week. In the event that the panacea also cured the   
Jusenkyo curse, she'd be able to marry Son-in-law to Shampoo   
immediately. And if it didn't, well, at least they would still save   
the people of the Musk Kingdom. Amazons weren't *always* self-   
interested, after all.   
  
"You too are interested in finding a cure for transfiguration curses?"   
Kodachi said in Mandarin by way of conversation starter.   
  
Herb phrased his next sentence carefully. "I am interested in the   
potion that cures all things, so yes, I am. I am more interested in   
the healing properties of this potion, though. My kingdom has fallen   
under a sickness that I must fight."   
  
Kodachi nodded in understanding, some of her earlier charm and warmth   
returning. "How very noble. I, also, seek a cure for a noble reason.   
I seek mine for love. My fiance has been cursed to change into girl   
when rained upon."   
  
Herb nearly choked on his ramen. Kodachi mistook his horror as   
compassion. "Dreadful, isn't it? But my darling Ranma has been   
bewitched by dark sorcery. I will do all in my power to restore him."   
  
Ranma? She was engaged to that whiny little half-bitch that flaunted   
her shame in public? The insect who had lost the Open Water Kettle   
forever? But . . . wait a minute. This girl wasn't the one who'd   
approached him in the cafe all those months ago . . . had Ranma   
actually switched women so quickly?   
  
Then he remembered Cologne once mentioning that Shampoo was one of   
four major rivals. The pieces fell into place. Kodachi was also one   
of the four. And Ranma had deluded her into falling in love with him .   
. . Herb vowed that if he ever saw that pig-tailed worm again, he   
would not let him survive the day.   
  
Cologne returned with Kodachi's ramen. In her hand she also had a   
notepad, and while the two teenagers ate, she scribbled down plans.   
  
"Kodachi, getting time off from school won't be a problem for you,   
will it? Of course not, why am I asking, this is Nerima . . . you'll   
need to take the train to Sapporro. That shouldn't take more than a   
day . . . you could fly by plane, too, but tickets on such short   
notice would cost hundreds of thousands of yen . . . once in Sapporo,   
you can catch a bus to one of the ski inns. You'll only have a few   
days to travel to Mr. Hebereke in Daisetsuzen National Park and   
retrieve the spice. Don't let any moonlight touch it until both you   
reach China."   
  
"China? And why, pray tell, am I going to China?"   
  
"Because you are the only one who can brew the potion, Kodachi Kuno,   
and it must be brewed in China first," Cologne said sharply.   
  
At that moment a miserable, wet purple kitty came in the front door,   
bearing an empty take out ramen box in her mouth. A damp sleeve   
dangled out of the top. The box was heavy, and the kitty struggled   
mightily to hold it off the ground. All three humans watched in   
fascination. She padded to the serving counter, and dropped it off on   
the floor, then disappeared into the back rooms of the restraint.   
  
"I hope that delivery got there before the rainstorm, Shampoo,"   
Cologne called, and then excused herself to go clean up the empty   
ramen box.   
  
"It did," Shampoo answered from the back rooms. Evidently she'd   
transformed as soon as she'd come in. "Wet clothes in box. Rain hit   
right after Shampoo deliver food."   
  
"Why does she speak Japanese in here?" Herb asked, frowning.   
"Especially such *bad* Japanese?"   
  
"I believe it's to impress my Ranma," Kodachi said with a smirk. "She   
fails utterly."   
  
Herb decided not to comment on that. That Ranma had impressed far too   
many women on his own bothered him even more than Cologne's laughter   
at the witch.   
  
The Musk had always isolated their warriors from women, preferring to   
train them without the distractions. Most had only rumors of women   
until they were of age to have their own children, and even then the   
men and women lived entirely separate lives. But Ranma was surrounded   
by women here . . . he was promised to four of them, no less, and yet   
he had almost beaten Herb on his last visit (Herb wasn't quite ready   
to call it a true defeat.)   
  
Could it be that thousands of years of tradition were wrong? Did the   
distraction of women truly not matter to training?   
  
"Back to our plans, then," Kodachi said, breaking his reverie. She   
sipped her tea primly. "I still do not understand why I am required   
to go to China."   
  
Herb gritted his teeth. "You're required because without your help   
hundreds of people will die. I need a witch. That is you."   
  
Kodachi raised one elegant eyebrow. "Hundreds of people don't matter   
as much to me as Ranma."   
  
Herb goggled. She was . . . insane. He felt his battle aura flare up   
in anger. Witch, indeed. He had to force himself to calm down.   
There was still one important requirement that he had to know about   
Kodachi. Was she still pure?   
  
"Of course . . . if I am solely responsible for the healthy   
restoration of an entire kingdom, it is sure to mark favorably with   
Ranma," the witch continued. "Perhaps I should go . . ."   
  
"Before we make travel plans, I have a serious question," Herb said,   
keeping his voice calm. "Have you been taken by Ranma or any other   
man?"   
  
"What?"   
  
"I said, have you been taken by Ranma? Are you still a virgin?"   
  
Kodachi's face turned a mottled red from shock and anger. "What sort   
of question is that to ask a lady?" Her hand raised, as if to slap   
him, just like Cologne had said it would.   
  
"The panacea requires a virgin, that's why," he said, hating having to   
defend himself. However, her hand dropped immediately.   
  
"Oh, it's one of those kind of potions," she said, some of the anger   
draining away. "In that case . . . Ranma and I have yet to consummate   
our love."   
  
She put everything so dramatically.   
  
"Then it's settled. We should leave immediately."   
  
"We cannot," Kodachi said, and grabbed the sheet of paper that Cologne   
had been scribbling on. "I'll have to run home and fetch my cauldron,   
my potions kit -- magical potions don't brew themselves -- and I'll   
need the recipe." She frowned. "That'd be in the Restricted Section   
of the Library . . . probably in Hebereke-sama's herbal journals . .   
."   
  
"The recipe? Wouldn't it be just a tisane with the moss?"   
  
"For this sort of potion, it's extremely doubtful. You don't need a   
witch to make a tea. You need a witch with the knowledge of magical   
potions and the skills to brew one properly. You also need the   
recipe. Before we can go anywhere, I'll need to get to the school."   
  
"I want to leave tonight," Herb said urgently.   
  
Cologne came over with Kodachi's ramen, and chimed in. "Herb is   
right. The sooner you leave, the better."   
  
"Then you'll have to help me break into the school. And I'll have to   
pack."   
  
"Wherever you going, you stay there," Shampoo commented offhandedly,   
coming out from the back rooms. She had changed into a dry outfit.   
"Any more deliveries Shampoo need to make, great-grandmother?"   
  
"Mousse headed out with the last order, so we're good for now.   
However, with the rain, I expect we'll have a lot of orders for   
dinner. Be prepared."   
  
"Okay, great-grandmother." Shampoo left again, with a final rival-   
stare at Kodachi. Kodachi had taken out her ribbon wrapped wand and   
was tapping it against her arm in a mildly threatening manner.   
  
During that brief exchange, Herb had finished his ramen, and Kodachi   
had picked at her own sufficiently to be full.   
  
"How long will it take you to gather the things you need?" Herb asked.   
  
"Breaking into St Hebereke is no easy matter, and although I have done   
it before, it will still take some time. As it is approaching   
nightfall, we should head there first."   
  
In silent agreement they rose, and paid Cologne for their respective   
meals. Herb grabbed his traveling bundle from where he had stashed   
it, and tossed on his cloak in case it rained again.   
  
They had formed a partnership for their endeavor, for better or for   
worse.   
  
* * *   
St Hebereke's Girl's School (of Witchcraft), Nerima, Tokyo   
* * *   
  
The rain had stopped, fortunately, leaving all of Nerima fresh and   
clean in the twilight. St. Hebereke's stood like a monument among   
manicured lawns, safely shielded from prying eyes by a ten-foot tall   
hedge. The middle of a city as large as Tokyo was an unusual place   
for a school of magic, but Nerima had traditionally been a center of   
chaos, and with all the low-grade magic from curses nowadays polluting   
the air, one who was searching it wouldn't be able to see the forest   
for the trees.   
  
"I'll break directly into the library," Kodachi said, as they entered   
the school grounds. "You need to stay hidden. There are . . . foul   
creatures that roam the campus of which you must be wary."   
  
"I'll be careful. Watch out for yourself. I don't want to have to   
find another witch."   
  
"You fret unnecessarily, ohji-sama. As I said, I have done this   
before."   
  
Kodachi directed him behind a bush, and then took out her ribbon. She   
unfurled it, and whispered "Extend!" to it in Latin, the language of   
witches and wizards worldwide. Dead language or not, it had served   
them for several millennia. Chinese worked just as well; for that   
matter, Japanese did too, but since Latin was taught by the three   
major European schools, the trustees of Hebereke had ordered the   
teachers to switch to Latin as well during the Meiji Era.   
  
Immediately the ribbon began to grow, accompanied by a shower of   
sparks from the wand, and she did not command it to stop until it was   
nearly twenty feet long. She whispered another spell and the end of   
the ribbon became heavy and sticky. This she hurled high into the   
air. The heavy end of the ribbon attached itself firmly to the wall,   
and Kodachi tugged it a few times to ensure that it held fast.   
  
Then she began to rappel right up the sheer face of the school wall.   
Good, she thought to herself, so far none of the alarms have caught   
on. Like all schools of magic, St Hebereke's was guarded by some very   
powerful spells. The only reason she hadn't tripped the alarms was   
because the school recognized her as a student.   
  
Once she was level with the library window, on the second story, she   
pulled a glasscutter from her bag and carefully made a circle in the   
nearest pane. This she popped through, and then reached inside to   
pulled open the latch. Still no alarms. She opened the window, and   
with a balance earned through years of martial arts rhythmic   
gymnastics, she angled her body through one-handed, and landed upright   
on the floor inside. She glanced outside to see Prince Herb looking   
at her impatiently.   
  
The library was dark and dim, and the darkness pressed upon her. She   
detached her ribbon, dropped it on the floor, and whispered "Lumos"   
to her wand. A small light appeared on the end. She dropped her bag on   
a table, and started searching the library.   
  
Let's see . . . Hebereke-sama's journals are down that aisle . . .   
  
It didn't take her long to find the Hokkaido journals, and she quickly   
flipped through the ancient scrolls until she found the recipes.   
  
"Panacea . . . panacea . . . ah! 'A curative for all demon-born   
illnesses may be extracted from a certain moss that grows on my   
mountain. It has worked on all illnesses I have tested it on.   
However, the curative is difficult to brew, and only receives its   
magical properties when brewed on the night of the full moon.' This   
is it. Now, my darling Ranma, I shall be able to free you from the   
affliction wrought upon you."   
  
Kodachi quickly copied the recipe, and put the scroll back. The other   
ingredients were rare, but not impossible to find, and she actually   
had most of them in her Potions kit at home. She could find fresh   
cloves at any market, and thyme as well. But the spice-moss . . .   
Hebereke-sama had insisted it only grew on her mountain, in small   
patches in the shade by her cave. Once harvested, it could not see   
the moonlight until the night of the full moon, or else the special   
reaction that gave it its properties would take place prematurely and   
incompletely.   
  
This leg of the mission complete, Kodachi swung her bag over her   
shoulder, reattached her ribbon to the wand, and leapt lightly through   
the window, landing gently on the ground even after a second story   
drop. Prince Herb looked almost . . . impressed? Well, naturally he   
would have to be impressed by one so beautiful and agile as herself.   
Gymnasts were renowned around the world for their grace.   
  
She whispered the Unbreaking spell, and the window returned back to   
the way it was before. She then unstuck and unshrunk her ribbon, and   
wrapped it around the wand.   
  
"Too easy," she said arrogantly, and turned to go. Herb started to   
follow her . . . and it was then that one of the school demons decided   
to show up.   
  
"A male?" the demon whispered, causing both Kodachi and Herb to turn   
around in alarm. The demon was a rather small, red, heavily made-up   
squid. "Ohhhhh . . . how papparapoo!" The demon puckered her lips,   
closed her eyes, and began advancing upon Herb. "Give me a kiss, you   
papparapoo thing, you."   
  
Kodachi's eyes widened. Without thinking, she grabbed Herb's hand and   
whispered, "Run!"   
  
They ran.   
  
"Ohhhh, come back! Noeru wants to be with you! Waaaaaaait!" The   
squid ran as fast as her ten legs could carry her, but she was no   
match for the two trained martial artists. Finally, at the edge of   
school grounds, the squid gave up and stopped chasing them.   
  
"I take it that was one of the foul creatures you were referring to?"   
Herb said as they both ran as fast as they could. Neither of them were   
winded, despite their fast pace.   
  
"Noeru the Squid is one of the more frightening ones, yes," Kodachi   
answered. "Be glad it wasn't Myu-zu. We wouldn't have out-run her.   
She's a shape shifter."   
  
They did not stop running until they were well out of sight of the   
school. Kodachi dropped his hand, and they both took a few seconds to   
let the adrenaline seep from their blood.   
  
The sun was setting now, and it stained them in shades of crimson and   
orange.   
  
"I must pack for a week's journey. My house is not far from here. I   
take it you are prepared for such an extended trip?" she asked,   
gesturing toward the elegant pack he had slung over his shoulder. He   
nodded. "We shall leave on the night train, then."   
  
They walked toward the Kuno mansion quickly, and in silence.   
  
* * *   
Kuno Mansion, Nerima, Tokyo   
* * *   
  
Herb was not really impressed by Kodachi's home. True, by Japanese   
standards, it was enormous; it looked as if it even had a small dojo   
inside of it; but to Herb, who had grown up in traditional China in an   
ancient palace, it was too new, and too Western looking.   
  
Acting the good hostess, she had settled him down at the main room   
with tea and a small plate of canapes (which Herb, having gotten a   
sense of Kodachi's personality, did *not* eat) while she ran upstairs   
to pack. Herb had a slightly more pressing need than food, however,   
and had to search through several doors before he found the guest   
toilet.   
  
She had left her schoolbag downstairs, he noticed, once he had   
refreshed himself. Not even thinking twice about it, he peered inside   
the bag.   
  
It was so *feminine*. Black gewgaws and trinkets were piled upon   
fuzzy black notebooks and black feathered quill pens. The girl   
obviously had a fondness for black that went beyond the school dress   
code. The only colorful thing inside the whole bag was a thick,   
opaque red liquid inside a corked flask. Curious, Herb unstopped the   
flask and ran it beneath his nose. It smelled like roses and cinnamon   
and mint. He wondered what it was . . . a perfume? It didn't smell   
like she had. Kodachi smelled of roses alone.   
  
He put the flask back in her bag, and turned to her fuzzy black   
notebook. Why it was fuzzy was beyond his understanding. He'd have   
to look at it through the eyes of his girl half some time to see the   
appeal.   
  
Inside the notebook . . . it appeared to be her journal. He had   
intended only to look for the recipe, to see exactly all the spice-   
moss panacea entailed, but he found himself reading her journal   
entries unconsciously. They were all written in black ink, in perfect   
and exacting Japanese. And they all seemed to talk about Ranma.   
  
"Today my darling Ranma evaded my paralysis-potion-laden cookies.   
However, I managed to obtain a photograph, which, when altered   
slightly, shows how he and I shared a tender moment in the park. I   
have magically reproduced thousands of copies of the photo to share   
our joy, and hidden the negative on Mr. Turtle's collar . . ."   
  
Disgusted, Herb replaced the journal, and dug around a bit more,   
blushing extremely red when he found several very personal and   
feminine articles. He then encountered the videotape.   
  
The cover simply said "Ranma."   
  
"She's more than just engaged to him," Herb whispered to himself,   
"she's obsessed beyond all reason." What could he have possibly done   
to her to earn that level of mad devotion? Females. Maybe THIS was   
why for millennia the Musk had trained away from them. Not to avoid   
being distracted by them, but to avoid driving them insane.   
  
Kodachi emerged from her room, with a single rolling suitcase and a   
sleeping bag wrapped around a tent. Her wand and ribbon were clutched   
in the other hand. She had changed, too, and Herb stared for a moment   
before leaping away from her bag. Belatedly, he realized he was still   
holding the video, and he slipped it onto a bookshelf, and hoped she   
wouldn't notice it there.   
  
Kodachi's traveling outfit was an all black, exquisitely tailored suit   
with embroidered white and red roses on the pockets. Her luggage also   
bore the black, red, and white rose motif. The skirt was . . . short,   
exposing shapely legs, which were accented by a pair of tiny black   
shoes. She had pulled her hair back into a bun, so that the slender   
column of her neck looked even more delicate. And the blazer . . .   
the neckline plunged low, hinting at the generous expanse of breasts   
beneath. Despite all that he'd been through, Herb still loved breasts   
(on true females, anyway. He hated his own.) Saotome was insane to   
resist the advances of Kodachi, Herb decided, no matter how crazy she   
was.   
  
It was only after he'd calmed his suddenly raging hormones down that   
he stated the obvious. He crossed his arms angrily. "You can't   
possibly expect to go mountain climbing in that . . . outfit."   
  
"Of course I don't. This is for the night train. I, Kodachi, do have   
an appearance to maintain. I shall dress for the occasion on each leg   
of our journey. Now, we must travel quickly to the train station. I   
checked the schedules on the Internet while I was upstairs, and a   
train is leaving for Sapporo at nine PM." She finally came down the   
stairs, and Herb forced himself not to look at her legs, which were   
clad in sheer stockings.   
  
"You didn't like the canopes? Pity, they're quite good," Kodachi   
scolded, and popped one in her mouth. When she didn't turn into a   
frog or suddenly go stiff with paralysis, Herb was almost   
disappointed, and he regretted not trying one. She left her luggage   
in the living room and cleaned up the tea things, then grabbed a black   
jacket from the hat rack by the door, and her schoolbag.   
  
They departed for the train station, the video forgotten on the shelf.   
  
------------   
  
End Chapter Two 


	3. Three

* * *   
Deep in L-Space   
* * *   
  
Very interesting. Very interesting, indeed. So the creator of this   
universe (whomever she was, she had some bad grammar habits like   
"buts" at the beginning of the sentence) didn't want to make it easy   
for the would-be lovers. Well, that was fine. The more angst, the   
more love, as they say.   
  
Although, when she thought about it, none of the couples in the Senshi   
bickered all that much. Michiru and Haruka calmly disagreed   
occasionally, and Mamoru had broken up with Usagi once, but they never   
really fought like cats and dogs as the couples in other universes   
did.   
  
It made for boring relationships.   
  
She shifted into a more comfortable position, and turned the page,   
sticking her tongue out in concentration.   
  
------------   
The Spice of Life   
[Chapter Three]   
An Herb/Kodachi Fic   
Commissioned by Prince Herb   
Written by Cat Who   
Beta Read by Rezantis   
  
For Daddy   
  
------------   
  
* * *   
Train Station, Tokyo, Honshuu Island, Japan   
* * *   
  
"Two tickets to Sapporo, please," Kodachi said sweetly at the ticket   
window. The clerk behind the counter leered openly at her, which made   
Herb want to kill him.   
  
"Twenty four thousand, four hundred yen."   
  
Not that I care especially about her, he said to himself firmly. It's   
just that no female deserves to be looked at . . . that way. It's   
degrading.   
  
As a female, he'd managed to avoid leers by wearing the same loose,   
billowy cloak he wore now. It effectively hid his woman's figure so   
well, in fact, that Lime and Mint hadn't even realized his predicament   
until Saotome had deliberately exposed his bosom.   
  
But Kodachi was flaunting her body. The tailored suit did . . .   
things to Herb that he was very ashamed to admit to himself. He was   
finally understanding the real reason the Musk had never allowed their   
warriors to know about women. They weren't merely distracting, as   
breasts were. They were absolutely intoxicating.   
  
"So, what's a cute girl like you doing running away to Sapporo in the   
middle of the night?" the clerk asked Kodachi.   
  
"Oh, just running away to enjoy myself," Kodachi said, oozing charm.   
Although she was probably only being nice, it made him burn in anger.   
Herb would have berated her for actually paying attention to the scum   
behind the counter had he not felt a sudden splash of something cold   
and wet on his ankle.   
  
Damn!   
  
"Sorry," a woman dragging a toddler said. The toddler had spilled his   
icewater onto the only area of Herb that wasn't protected by her   
cloak, which fell to midcalf in her male form. "Are you all right?"   
  
"I'm fine," Herb ground out, and stepped into the crowd away from the   
ticket counter before Kodachi saw her. Of all the places to transform,   
it would be in the middle of a public train station. She needed hot   
water . . . any hot liquid . . . ah! A concession stand! Tea!   
  
"Two teas and one cup of hot water, please," Herb said, pulling her   
cloak tight around her face. The worker behind the counter gave her a   
quizzical look but filled the order anyway. Herb quickly took the   
water, ducked down, and splashed it on her other ankle. Whew.   
  
He paid for the drinks, and walked away with the teas. He heard the   
worked mutter "baka gaijin" under her breath, and his mouth tightened   
in annoyance. But now was not the time to teach the rude worker her   
place.   
  
"Oh, there you are, ohji-sama," Kodachi called, and waved to him   
elegantly from beside the ticket counter. Herb handed her the second   
hot tea, and she nodded in thanks.   
  
"Our train will be boarding in a few minutes. We should head toward   
the platform." She gave him his ticket, and the pair made their way   
through the thinned evening crowd. "It's a sixteen hour ride from here   
to Sapporo."   
  
"I intensely dislike this mode of transportation," Herb commented as   
they waited with their luggage for the night train.   
  
"Oh? What manner do you use in your kingdom?"   
  
"We walk. For long distances we use horses."   
  
"Oh. How . . . quaint. How, then, did you get to Japan? Horses   
don't swim. Did you fly?"   
  
Herb started to say that of course he didn't fly, he didn't have   
wings, and his mid-air techniques wouldn't sustain him across an   
ocean, but then he realized that she was referring to the airplanes   
that less traditional peoples around the world used for quick travel.   
  
"I took my ship," he said instead. "It's now docked on Kyuushuu. The   
Musk Kingom lies near the ocean." He sipped his tea, thanking   
whatever being, human or god, who had discovered all the incredible   
virtues of hot water and herbs and made them popular.   
  
Kodachi said nothing, but she looked duly impressed that he owned his   
own ship. As she should be. Her wealth was a pittance compared to   
the treasures of the Musk.   
  
The train arrived then, and they boarded with the other night   
passengers with little fanfare.   
  
* * *   
Train traveling from Tokyo to Sapporo, Japan   
* * *   
  
They sat beside each other in one half of a berth, their luggage   
stowed above them. This was a long distance bullet train, and a night   
one at that, which meant that the train was almost empty. On such   
short notice, however, it was impossible to request one of the luxury   
private berths. Kodachi had gotten tickets for an open berth, with the   
seats on the side, allowing the slightly taller than average teens   
some much needed leg room.   
  
"So you own your own ship," Kodachi said casually, looking at her   
nails. She perched daintily on her seat, her legs crossed at the   
knees, her jacket over her knees. Herb had the uncomfortable feeling   
from being so close to her, especially with her wearing . . . that.   
"The Musk Kingdom is large, then, I take it?"   
  
"My kingdom is more than just a patch of mud and mountains, if that's   
what you're asking. My people are the most feared warriors in all of   
eastern China. I, as the heir to the throne of Musk, am duty bound to   
protect my people. That's why I need the panacea. My people have been   
struck by a mysterious illness."   
  
"But why do you need a Japanese witch? Surely there was at least one   
magical woman among you."   
  
"There are no women in the Musk," Herb said coldly. "Women are a   
distraction to men in training. We are taught to not even know what a   
woman is until it is time for us to have children, and even then we   
are not to fraternize with them."   
  
"Oh, how dreadful! I know how that is, though. I despise attending   
an all girl's school, but the Japanese school of magic was founded by   
Hebereke-sama and she believed that it was better for women to learn   
magic away from men. To avoid distraction and . . . temptations."   
  
"It failed in your case."   
  
Kodachi laughed for the first time, a terrifying sound that scared   
Herb more than anything about the girl so far. She covered her mouth   
shyly with her hand, but her cackle (it could ONLY be called a cackle)   
bounced around the train car nonetheless. Herb resisted an instinct   
deep in his dragon heart to shred her to pieces in case she was as   
dangerous as she sounded.   
  
"It certainly did. Nothing can keep true love apart, you see." She   
clasped her hands together and lifted her gray eyes rapturously toward   
the ceiling of the car. "When I first met Ranma, I knew it was   
destiny."   
  
"Even though he already had a fiance?"   
  
"Of course! I have been trying to get rid of that Tendou weakling -- I   
even crashed their attempt at a wedding a few weeks ago -- yet the   
evil demon has a powerful spell I cannot break on him."   
  
Herb was having a lot of trouble believing that Ranma's "spell" was   
not a reciprocated love, but he kept silent, and instead asked the   
question that had been burning on his mind all evening. "What exactly   
did Ranma do that made you fall in love with him?"   
  
Kodachi blinked innocently, and covered her heart with her hand shyly.   
"Why, he rescued me, of course. No man had ever dared to approach me.   
And he was kind to me. I knew at that instant that I had found the   
one destined for me."   
  
He had . . . rescued her? That was IT? Herb stared at her, and for   
the first time since meeting him felt sorry for Ranma Saotome.   
Perhaps the half-bitch wasn't a womanizer as he had been led to   
believe by Cologne.   
  
"And even if he remains cursed . . . even if the panacea does not cure   
him of the transfiguration, I shall remain faithful to him."   
  
Herb digested that news in silence for quite some time. Like Saotome,   
he believed his curse to make him less of a man . . . but maybe not   
every woman would look at it like that. Even though Kodachi didn't   
know of the nature of the curse -- or that there was a possibility it   
could be cured -- she was willing to remain faithful to half-man who   
didn't even love her simply because he had shown her kindness. Were   
there other women who only wanted kindness from a man? To the point   
where the could put up with a distinctly more visible feminine side?   
  
"I have a question for you, now," Kodachi said, interrupting his train   
of thought. "Forgive me if I am rude, ohji-sama, but exactly . . .   
how did you get your hair that way?" She tilted her head toward his   
brightly patched bangs and ponytail.   
  
Prince Herb of the Musk Kingdom looked away this time, in annoyance   
again. "I was born with it. In me runs the blood of dragons."   
  
"Oh, really? Then is your armor also--?"   
  
"Yes."   
  
"I see. Chinese Fireball?"   
  
Herb looked at her once more, this time in astonishment. "You know of   
dragon breeds?" Not many people were aware that dragons still roamed   
free around the world. Most were endangered; the armor he wore had   
been made hundreds of years ago, before they had realized that dragons   
were a rapidly dying species. The orange Fireball's brilliant scales   
were fireproof, waterproof, shock proof, and as hard as diamonds.   
After Jusenkyo, Herb had wondered if it'd be possible to weave a cloth   
made out of them to keep him male.   
  
"I'm a witch, ohji-sama. I'm aware of all things magical."   
  
The train started up then, and they halted their conversation for a   
few moments until it had accelerated up to its full speed of a hundred   
and forty kilometers per hour.   
  
"You should try to get some rest, witch," Herb said after a while, as   
Kodachi had taken out her journal and was frantically scribbling in it   
with a black feather quill. No doubt she was writing about her latest   
scheme to catch Saotome.   
  
"As should you, ohji-sama." She continued writing, however, and   
showed no indication of stopping. Herb sighed, crossed his arms, and   
closed his eyes, leaning back into the seat. His armor made getting   
into a truly comfortable position difficult, so he had to settle for   
only mildly uncomfortable.   
  
He heard her snap her journal shut, and then lean back onto the small   
pillow she had brought along. The train clacked swiftly on its   
nighttime course, causing them both to sway gently. The motion   
reminded Herb of the waves on the ocean, yet he still had a lot of   
trouble trying to fall asleep.   
  
Especially when an all but snoring Kodachi landed on his shoulder.   
  
A woman is touching me . . . a woman is touching me . . . a woman is   
touching me . . .   
  
He fought off the initial wave of panic, and looked down at the   
sleeping Japanese girl. His panic ebbed. She looked even more   
innocent in sleep, her full yet dainty lips slightly parted, her sooty   
lashes resting on her pale cheek. She looked positively harmless . .   
.   
  
And yet, it was a long time before Herb slumbered.   
  
* * *   
Train Station, Aomori, Honshuu Island, Japan   
* * *   
  
Kodachi woke to the sounds of gossip.   
  
It took her a few moments to remember where she was, as the train she   
was on had stopped. She opened her sleep encrusted eyes, and blinked,   
taking in her surroundings slowly. She felt something hard poking her   
in her shoulder blade, and she looked beside her to where Prince Herb   
sat, covered in his long cloak. It was his double-shoulder armor that   
caused her pain. He was awake and alert, and was pointedly ignoring   
the stage whispers around him. Apparently the train had reached a   
brief stopover at some point along the way, as the train was much   
fuller than it had been the night before.   
  
"Is he a cosplayer?"   
  
"Has to be, in that outfit. Piccolo from DBZ, maybe?"   
  
"No, he'd be green, silly. I think it's from a video game."   
  
"Ugh, I don't know video game characters."   
  
"It is a rather unusual outfit," Kodachi commented in Mandarin,   
sitting up. Herb gave her a Look and glowered at the gossipers, who   
continued speculating as to who he was dressed as.   
  
"It is traditional. And comfortable. Unlike most of the clothing   
your people wear."   
  
"I'm perfectly comfortable," Kodachi disagreed, and recrossed her legs   
the other way to emphasize her point.   
  
She glanced outside, and recognized Aomori station. They would stop   
here, of course, before continuing through the Seikan tunnel, which   
ran underneath the Tsuguru Straight, making it the longest railway   
tunnel in the world. She had been to Hokkaido several times before on   
school ski trips, and knew the station well.   
  
"We're not going to be stopping again until we reach Sapporo, so you   
may want to take a break here," Kodachi said to Herb, then glanced at   
her watch and checked the travel schedule she had recieved with her   
tickets. "We'll be here for another fifteen minutes. I need to find   
a little girl's room now . . . excuse me." She stood up, and left   
Herb blushing furiously.   
  
The station at Aomori was already bustling with the pre-work traffic.   
Kodachi swayed through the crowd, her bag and ticket stub clutched at   
her side, and quickly found a woman's bathroom. It, too, was already   
filled with OLs on their way to work, putting on lipstick and   
gossiping about the salarymen in their various offices. Kodachi, in   
her little black French suit and bun, blended right in.   
  
Once she had finished her business, she ran to a small kiosk and   
purchased some overpriced breakfast anpan for herself and her   
traveling companion.   
  
Herb had obviously done the same, for once she returned to the train   
car, he too was clutching a bag and two cans of Georgia Coffee. She   
caught his eye, and smiled in surprise. At least her companion was a   
gentleman, despite the rude and arrogant way he came off.   
  
"What's in yours?" she asked, holding up her bag of anpan.   
  
"I'm not sure. It's something imported; the sign above said   
'McDonald's' and the waitress assured me that it's a delicious item.   
It involves eggs and a muffin." Herb stared suspiciously at the bag,   
on which a grease stain had started spreading.   
  
"Ugh. That American fare is unhealthy. I have anpan," Kodachi   
offered, and reached in for one of the sweet bean paste buns. "Unlike   
the Egg McMuffin, anpan will actually provide nutrition without   
clogging the arteries. But the Georgia Coffee is an excellent   
choice."   
  
Herb accepted the bun and handed her a can of the coffee. As the   
train started up, they ate in silence. Herb demolished the Egg   
McMuffins anyway. Kodachi refused. Over the plains of northern   
Honshuu the sun began to rise, spreading its infamous rays across the   
travelers inside the train car.   
  
"We'll be going into the Seikan Tunnel soon," Kodachi finally said,   
breaking the silence and gathering the trash neatly into one bag.   
  
"I don't like the idea of that thing. All those miles underwater."   
  
Kodachi shuddered daintily. "Don't remind me. It's faster than   
taking a ferry like we used to have to, though." Kodachi had never   
really liked the tunnel and preferred air travel, but for all intents   
and purposes train travel was much less expensive and much more   
convienient.   
  
The train continued accelerating, and they continued talking about the   
evils of American fast food, tunnels, and gossiping Office Ladies.   
Kodachi was pleasantly surprised as to how much she had in common with   
the Chinese prince. They had both been raised in a single-gender   
environment, and taught to respect traditions (in Kodachi's case, that   
of wizardry) above all else.   
  
"I break the rules all the time," Kodachi admitted, almost guiltily.   
"I get carried away and forget that I'm not allowed to use magic   
outside of the school. Fortunately, no one else has realized my   
abilities, not even my darling Ranma. Only my despicable brother   
knows, and outside of the family, Cologne. She guessed it the first   
time I met her."   
  
"Amazons can sense magic and ki in all forms," Herb said, nodding in   
affirmation.   
  
"She's also the one who taught me Mandarin. I have a gift for   
languages." She trilled a few sentences in another tongue that made   
Herb blink, trying to place it.   
  
"French?"   
  
"Very good. I spent my youth in France with my mother, who was a   
teacher at the French school of wizardry, Beaubaxton. And Father   
spent most of his life in Hawaii." Kodachi grimaced ever so slightly.   
"I had never even realized I *had* a father because he was gone for so   
long."   
  
"I never even knew I had a mother until I fell -- until I was cur --   
until a few months ago," Herb managed to finish lamely. "And I have   
never met her. Father is now touring China. It's a good thing, as   
well. Had he come down with the illness, I wouldn't have been free to   
travel for a cure."   
  
He looked so angry at his predicament, yet sad at the same time, that   
Kodachi set one delicate hand on his arm.   
  
"We will make it," she said firmly. "I promise."   
  
Herb glanced down at her hand, and stared pointedly away, his face   
turning an interesting shade of crimson.   
  
Then he said, very quietly, "Thank you."   
  
Kodachi smiled to herself. The ohji-sama was really a nice boy. Her   
initial impression was that he was cold and aloof, like her brother,   
but whereas Tatewaki's arrogance was mostly based on his own inflated   
opinion of himself, the prince actually had a reason to be proud.   
  
* * *   
Seikan Tunnel, Tsuguru Straight, Japan   
* * *   
  
Both of the teens shrank unsconsciously toward each other when the   
train entered the tunnel. Herb wasn't exactly afraid of dark and   
enclosed places (after all, he was part dragon and a tunnel is merely   
a long cave), but there was something frightening about knowing there   
was all that rock and water above, bearing down on the thinned walls.   
The atmosphere, even in the speeding bullet train, was heavy and   
oppressive.   
  
Around them, the few morning passengers traveling from Aomori to   
Sapporo seemed to have the same reaction, even though many of them   
traveled that same route on a daily basis. Kodachi looked decidedly   
less confident than she had that morning.   
  
They passed another train going the other way right in the beginning.   
Then there was only the gentle clacking of the rails beneath the   
floor.   
  
Kodachi yawned and leaned back in her seat again, and then closed her   
eyes to sleep some more. Some part of Herb faintly hoped she might   
accidentally lean upon him again.   
  
Just last night you were terrified when she fell on you, he berated   
himself. And now you want her to fall on you again? What kind of   
Musk are you?   
  
He got his wish when the train suddenly slammed on its brakes.   
  
They had no idea it was coming until, with a screech of protesting   
metal, they all hurtled forward from inertia. A startled Kodachi   
landed on his arm, and ended up clutching it in surpise, although Herb   
barely noticed. The train continued shedding speed rapidly, until it   
was completely stopped. The little hairs on the back of his neck   
raised in alarm. Something was not right.   
  
"Wait here," he said to Kodachi in a low voice, and stood up,   
adjusting his cloak just in case there was a dripping leak between the   
cars of the train. Kodachi looked outside, worriedly. Herb did not   
see her reach for her wand.   
  
He made his way quickly through the cars to the front of the train,   
ignoring the requests over the intercom that the passengers please   
remain seated and calm. Before long he had reached the engine car,   
which in the gleaming bullet train looked more like a pilot's cockpit.   
  
"What is wrong?" he demanded. The engineers turned around in surprise   
when they heard him -- and when they saw him immediately felt a   
wilting sense of relief. One of them began weeping.   
  
Herb had slipped into "command" mode, that sense of authority that   
well trained leaders drop into whenever the situation called for it.   
His ki was radiating power and control, and the train engineers,   
unconsciously sensing the subtle strength in his presence, were more   
than happy to relinquish control of the situation.   
  
"There's a cow blocking the railway." The chief engineer, disbeliving   
his own words, pointed to where the headlights illuminated a lump on   
the tracks. "A cow. In the middle of the tunnel." He repeated   
himself, as if to make it all make sense. "A cow. We caught it on   
radar . . . it's a good thing, too, because had we hit it we would   
have derailed completely."   
  
Herb glared at the lump, which had resolved itself into an unusually   
patterned cow-like shape. Something that appeared to be a head was   
chewing cud, contendedly.   
  
"Its ki is wrong," he said, frowning. His eyes told him that he was   
looking at a cow. But his senses . . . told him he was looking at a   
human.   
  
Jusenkyo, perhaps? But there was no Spring of Drowned Cow that he was   
aware of. And besides, while in cursed form the ki of a Jusenkyo   
victim altered to that of the animal body. The mind of the human   
remained, but the spirit of the animal replaced the spirit of a human   
in the human form, as well. Fortunately that didn't extend to the   
human body curses, as a soul has no gender. However, the ki of the   
being in front of him was as human as any.   
  
An alarm went off. The engineers checked a flashing light on the   
backlit panel, which was labeled "doors." Then a subtle movement to   
the right of the train caught Herb's eye, and he watched in mingled   
horror and anger as a familiar witch in pumps and a power suit fled   
past the engineering car, wand in hand.   
  
"Kodachi!" he yelled, and ran from the engineering car, wrenching the   
doors open to get outside. The temperature in the tunnel was almost   
freezing, and Herb pulled his cloak tighter. The only light came from   
the train's headlights.   
  
The witch had already reached the cow, and held her wand in her hand.   
He caught the faint echo of "black rose petal storm!" and immediately   
the air was filled with rose petals, which swirled thickly in the cold   
drafts, choking him with the cloying scent of roses.   
  
"Kodachi," he yelled again, and stumbled blindly to where she was in   
the center of the rose petals. They formed a solid, whirling wall   
around them, completely blocking them from view.   
  
She was kneeling next to the cow, who mooed in a high pitched voice.   
The cow itself was golden, with black legs and a wisp of wheat colored   
hair for a forelock. It wore a ridiculous oversized brass bell on a   
thick red collar.   
  
"Herb-sama," Kodachi said in surprise. "You felt it too, then. The   
cow . . . is a human being."   
  
Now was not the time to fight with her, he told himself. "Exactly.   
Her ki is wrong. This is . . . what did you call it? A   
transfiguration curse?"   
  
Kodachi nodded. "A powerful one. She's been like this for a long   
time . . . her mind is slipping. Her name is Nanami."   
  
"How did you find that out?"   
  
"It's on her bell." Kodachi pointed to the large brass bell, which   
indeed bore the name "Nanami" engraved on the clapper.   
  
"How the hell did she get in the middle of the Seikan tunnel, though?"   
  
"I don't know. I also don't know how to undo transfiguration curses,   
or else I wouldn't be seeking the panacea."   
  
Herb steeled himself and joined her beside the cow, who blinked lazily   
and continued to chew her cud placidly. The cow looked at him   
casually with a set of enormous purple eyes.   
  
"Human or not, we have to move her. Train traffic will be held up if   
we don't move out quickly."   
  
Kodachi hesitantly reached out, and stroked the cow on the head. The   
cow shied away, and brought one hoof up in front of her neck, leaning   
her head down as if to protect the cowbell. Kodachi gripped her wand   
and whispered "Expose" in Latin. Immediately, sparks began bouncing   
from the wand to the cow, concentrating especially along the brass   
bell itself. The cow leaned further down, almost angrily, defending   
her cowbell.   
  
"It's the bell," Kodachi decided. "The source of the curse is the   
bell."   
  
Now that meant they had to neutralize it -- which Kodachi, as bad at   
Transfigurations as she was, couldn't do -- or remove it.   
  
"We have to get it off. Do you think you can . . . grab her by the   
ears, maybe?"   
  
Herb nodded and started to reach for the head of the cow, but the   
animal snapped angrily at him and stood up, pawing her feet on the   
railroad lines. Then she lowed loudly, and turned her back to the   
prince.   
  
"I think she senses I'm a dragon," Herb said with an angry scowl, and   
then flew into the air. "RYU SEI HISHOU!" he cried, and feinted one   
way before suddenly shifting to another direction entirely. The move   
was graceful and threw the cow completely off, since she was expecting   
him to come at her from the other side.   
  
He landed with a thump on her back, and the cow bucked wildly, trying   
toss him off. He grabbed her ears, pulling her head back so she   
couldn't snap, and yelled "Now, Kodachi!"   
  
Kodachi didn't have to be told twice. She aimed her wand directly at   
the cord holding the bell to the cow's neck, and chanted the severing   
charm. The bell snapped off with a loud pop, and clattered onto the   
railway below.   
  
In a brilliant flash and poof of colored smoke, the animal   
disappeared, and suddenly Herb was no longer riding an angry cow but   
instead was piggyback on a young girl. With a startled "eep!" she   
collapsed under his weight, and the two fell onto the railway,   
groaning in bruised pain.   
  
Kodachi let the tunnel of black rose petals fall to the ground. They   
wouldn't be needed anymore.   
  
The girl sat up and rubbed her head, and then gingerly picked up the   
cowbell.   
  
"Thank you," she said, seeming a little dazed. "Where am I?"   
  
"In the middle of the Seikan Tunnel. Do you remember how you got   
here?"   
  
"The last thing I remember was onii-sama saying that Akio-san wanted   
me to be the next student council president, and then -- Himemiya!"   
The girl stood up, and now Kodachi and Herb could see that the cow had   
been patterned after her school uniform: yellow with black leggings.   
"Himemiya did this to me!"   
  
Kodachi blinked and looked surprised. "Himemiya Anthy?"   
  
Nanami's jaw dropped. "You know her?"   
  
"I went to school in France with her. Quiet girl, always talking   
about her brother . . ."   
  
The blonde girl blanched and started to stomp off toward the train   
muttering about freaks of a feather. Herb stared after her, and   
Kodachi giggled a little.   
  
"She's a bit unbalanced, but the Anthy I remember was really very   
sweet. A little too sold on Dios, though. I wonder how he's doing   
now?"   
  
Herb realized his jaw was open, and he snapped it shut with an audible   
clack. Then he grabbed Kodachi's arm and started to drag her toward   
the train. Nanami was already in the engineers car, apologizing and   
asking for a ride. The second engineer was still crying.   
  
Belatedly, Kodachi aimed her wand back at the mess of rose petals, and   
chanted a spell that swept them to the side so that the train would   
have clear passage. Herb continued to tug her along violently.   
  
"Ohji-sama, you seem upset," Kodachi said, in an innocently puzzled   
voice. He said nothing until they had reached their railway car,   
where he all but threw her in.   
  
"You absolute FOOL!" he roared once they were inside. "I told you to   
wait here. You could have gotten hurt!"   
  
Kodachi narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. They were   
both still standing as the train began to move again. Apparently the   
engineers, lacking an explanation, had decided to just go ahead and   
continue, in order to prevent the train from getting too far off   
schedule.   
  
"And I suppose you could have handled that all by yourself, ohji-   
sama?" Kodachi answered, dangerously.   
  
"Never disobey my orders again!"   
  
Kodachi studied him through those cool gray eyes of hers, then,   
against all reason, broke into a rather frightening smile.   
  
"You're cute when you're mad, ohji-sama," she said, patting his arm.   
As the train was accelerating rapidly now, she sat down in her seat.   
  
Herb had absolutely no answer to that statement, so he too sat down in   
a furious funk.   
  
The other passengers in the car blinked at the bickering companions,   
and then quietly returned to their tankoubon and newspapers.   
  
Kodachi and Herb didn't speak again until they reached Sapporo.   
  
* * *   
Kuno Mansion, Nerima District, Tokyo   
* * *   
  
"It appears that the twisted sister has left on a vacation without   
deeming to leave a departing message," Kuno said to himself. Since she   
had not returned that evening, he had decided that she had done what   
she always did and just left. He entered the living room, and saw a   
stray video out of place, on the wrong shelf.   
  
"No doubt it is another one of her foul hocus-pocus instructional   
tapes." He picked up the video, and started to walk toward the   
entertainment center, when he saw the label. "Ranma? As in Ranma   
Saotome? Hmph. No doubt this is another one of the twisted sister's   
schemes to force Saotome to date with her. I should leave this well   
alone."   
  
But Kuno, being . . . Kuno, naturally sat down and tried to watch it   
anyway.   
  
Hours later, he was still twitching from the warding spell Kodachi had   
put on it.   
  
He vowed to try again. If she had a spell such as that on the video,   
that meant that it HAD to have something incriminating on it.   
  
And Kuno loved finding incriminating stuff on Kodachi, whether he   
would ever admit it or not.   
  
------------   
End chapter three   
------------ 


	4. Four

* * *Deep in L-Space* * *  
  
Pages rustled amongst themselves. Sometimes Setsuna wondered if the books conversed; certainly the creators of each universe did, as many exchanged ideas and universes spawned additional ones. The network of stories and lives stretched infinitely throughout the library. Many universes, like the one Setsuna was reading now, had to be crossed referenced dozens of times. The creator of this one was quite prolific, too. Three solid chapters, with the promise of much more to come later. Of course, Setsuna had noticed at least one comma splice. No doubt the proofreader had yelled at the author for posting that without letting him look at it first.  
  
Setsuna carefully bookmarked her spot in the story and wandered over a few rows to the break room, where she poured herself a fresh cup of green tea. She also nabbed a tiny slice of cheesecake from the refridgerator, and, after peering around guiltily to make sure no one was watching, put the slice back in the fridge and took the rest of the cake for herself. No one said that the senshi of time couldn't be selfish when she wished it.  
  
Armed with snacks, she went into the lounge and settled into a comfortable armchair, to see where the creator was going to take her now.  
  
------------  
  
The Spice of Life  
[Chapter Four]  
An Herb/Kodachi Fic  
Commissioned by Prince Herb  
Written by Cat Who  
Beta read by Rezantis  
Disclaimer: None of 'em are mine. I'm not getting paid. Please don't sue me.  
  
------------  
For daddy . . .  
------------  
  
* * *  
Train Station, Sapporo, Hokkaido Island, Japan  
* * *  
  
"We can catch a bus to Daisetsuzan now," Kodachi said, breaking the long silence that had fallen between her and the prince. "Although it would be best if we partook of luncheon first. The bus ride takes about four hours. We should arrive before nightfall. The inn at Son-kyou I called during our break has reserved two rooms for us, so we can begin the climb to Hebereke tomorrow."  
  
Herb nodded, although his expression was still tight lipped and angry. Kodachi didn't understand what he was so upset about. Didn't he realize she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself? Not only did she have her magic, she was a fully trained martial arts rhythmic gymnast. Anything that dared to attack her would quickly be very sorry.  
  
Maybe it was just that his authority had been usurped. Well, the ohji-sama would just have to learn that she wasn't some simpering Chinese girl who could be stomped all over. She was Kodachi the Black Rose, and she was used to making decisions on her own.  
  
Luggage in hand, the two left the train and entered the station, which, during the daytime, was far busier than even the Tokyo station had been in the middle of the night. Sapporo was the largest city on Hokkaido, and the bustling crowds gave evidence of the lively city life.  
  
"I know of a delightful little French cafe a few streets away from the bus station," Kodachi said as they walked down the city street past gift shops and stores.   
  
"I've never eaten French," Prince Herb muttered behind her, as if he were slightly embarassed.  
  
"Don't worry, ohji-sama, everything they make is simply divine." It was much chillier up here than it had been in Tokyo, but Kodachi enjoyed the bite of cold on her stockinged legs. Herb, who was used to slightly warmer conditions in China, had pulled his cloak tightly around him. Dragon hide armor over a silk shirt wasn't very insulating.  
  
The "French cafe" Kodachi had remembered was genuine, owned and operated by gaijin who had settled in Sapporo several years ago for the skiing season and decided they liked it. Lunchtime crowds had filled it almost to capacity. The waiter was pleasantly surprised when Kodachi spoke in his native tongue, and the two had a rather lengthy discussion that she ended only because the prince was looking impatient. He directed them to one of the last tables left, which was small and situated in a corner, after checking their bags in at the front. The table had an intimate air, and the waiter had obviously misunderstood them for a couple on vacation. Seated, Kodachi and Herb were all but nose to nose over the ridiculously tiny table.  
  
Kodachi began flipping through the menu, which was written in both the original French and Japanese. Herb frowned at his menu.  
  
"Escargo? Snails? And I thought you Japanese had bad taste in food."  
  
"They taste quite nice, actually. I remember one time in Paris . . . there was a restaurant that made escargo that melted in your mouth, it was so tender."  
  
"I'll take a vegetarian dish, thank you very much," Herb said, looking slightly green around the gills.   
  
"If you insist. Perhaps the veloute soup . . ."  
  
The waiter returned for their order. Next to them at another table, a few customers had started a heated argument, yelling at each other in rapid Japanese. Herb watched them, almost scandalized by the way they were behaving in public. Could the man not control his woman? Herb sighed and turned away, feeling as though the next week in this foreign land would never end. That's why when the woman angrily threw her water at the man, Herb had no idea it was coming. She missed and it hit Herb full in the face.   
  
"I'm sorry!" the woman who had thrown the water cried. Herb sat stunned, water dripping down her chin and onto her cloak. Then, horrified, she ducked under the table just as Kodachi turned away from the waiter.  
  
"Ohji-sama?" she asked, peering under the table. "Ohji-sama?" Herb was no longer there, as she had immediately started crawling away, her cloak tucked tightly around her lest anyone notice the two new appendages on her chest.   
  
It was times like these she was grateful for her knee pads; the oddly tiled floor was spotless but hard as a rock. Herb peered closer since she was so close to the ground anyway. It WAS rock. No wonder. Why did it ALWAYS have to be water? she wondered bitterly as she ducked throughout the tables. She glanced back at Kodachi, who failed to notice Herb on the floor. Kodachi finally blinked a few times, but continued ordering, spilling instructions in liquid French to the waiter, who nodded and did not smile.  
  
Herb, meanwhile, had managed to crawl across the restaurant without startling too many people. She ducked into the men's restroom, her cloak still clutched tightly around her, and was very relieved to find they had hot water on tap in the restaurant, a rarity in Japan. Herb splashed her face with water, and transformed back to himself again. "I HATE this curse," he complained to no one in particularly, and mopped his face off with a paper towel. Feeling very cross with the world, he ducked into a stall to go ahead and take care of the call of nature while he was in the restroom.  
  
By the time he emerged, the first course had arrived, and Kodachi was the one looking impatient. Her face did brighten a bit when she saw him return from the direction of the restroom.  
  
"So that's where you were. You just upped and disappeared."  
  
"Personal business," Herb said ambiguously, and sat in the tiny metal chair again after checking to make sure no water had dripped onto it. In front of him on the table was a tiny dish of noodles in a clear sauce.   
  
"Well, I took the liberty of ordering for you. Those are noodles Czekoslovakian style. We'll also be having the quail a la crapaudine, cucumbers with sour cream, some good camembert cheese, and a stained glass fruit salad for dessert.  
  
Herb shrugged and looked around for a pair of chopsticks. Finding none, he glanced over at Kodachi, who had picked up her fork and was poking delicately at her own noodles. He felt a little foolish. Back in China, he'd eaten in a Western resteraunt a grand total of once, and even then they'd provided him with chopsticks. He sighed and picked up his own fork, and managed to eat the entire dish without dropping any.  
  
They ate through most the small courses in silence; Herb because he was terribly hungry, and Kodachi out of reverence to the excellent French cuisine. He didn't quite understand why the small slice of cheese deserved its own course, but Kodachi explained that it was a French thing, and to skip the cheese would be all but sacrilege.  
  
"I miss France," Kodachi said over the stained glass salad. "Japanese food is all good and well, but there's something about the rituals of a properly done French luncheon that a Japanese meal lacks."  
  
"I'll grant you that the food is good," Herb conceded. "But what ritual? All the waiter did was hand us food on plates."  
  
"Exactly! In a traditional Japanese dinner, the food is all arranged on the table before the diners sit down. But in the French tradition, the food is brought out only when it is the proper time. It's a very subtle, very crucial difference in the dining cultures."  
  
"I see," Herb said, even though he really didn't. He'd known the woman for a full day now, and she was becoming more and more of a mystery to him. What did it matter that in France a servant brought the food out one course at a time? It still was eaten. And even if Kodachi HAD lived in France, she was still Japanese. Her rejection of her own culture was so typical for her people. They claimed that they wanted to keep all foreign influences away, while at the same time practicing those same foreign influences daily. It was so hypocritical that it almost made Herb sick.  
  
Kodachi paid for their meal, and they retrieved their luggage from the front. Outside, the noontime crowd had thinned a little, and the pair had no trouble finding the bus station. "Buses leave every half hour. There should be one here soon."  
  
Herb nodded. It was strange. Kodachi was acting as more than just a traveling companion, but as as a tour guide. His earlier anger at her had dissipated during lunch. He had a feeling that he'd have been hard pressed to do this trip on his own, and it made him feel a foreign emotion he didn't quite recognize. Finally he placed the odd sensation: gratitude. He was grateful that he had Kodachi along. He didn't like the idea of a woman being so strong-willed and forceful, but he was very glad that she wasn't expecting HIM to do all the work on this trip.  
  
They didn't have to wait long. The buses, like the trains in Japan, ran on their time schedules exactly. They paid the reasonable fare and found a pair of seats near the back.   
  
* * *   
Bus from Sapporo to Son-kyou-onsen, Daisetsuzan National Park  
* * *  
  
Kodachi took out a map of Daisetsuzan and a pen, and started plotting points on the map and writing things down on a piece of paper.  
  
"What are you doing?" Herb asked, curiously.   
  
"We have to turn a copy of our planned hike into a police station before we can climb. I'm also marking the best places to stop for shelter during the hike. It'd be fastest to take the marsh route by Kuwannai, but it's forbidden, so we'll have to go around it, which will add a half a day's journey . . . there are appointed campsites we have to stay at, too. And we need to rent equipment."  
  
"So many safety precautions . . ."  
  
"The mountainous areas are dangerous. People have died by being stupid. We don't have to go as far as Mt Daisetsu-yama, thank goodness, but we do have to face some extreme conditions."  
  
"In China, during our training, we climbed the mountains with our bare hands."  
  
"Good for you." Kodachi was entirely unimpressed. Herb fumed for a bit as she carefully recorded their course, then feeling slightly bored, he picked up a magazine someone had left behind and read it for a while.  
  
Then he put the magazine down.  
  
This inaction was driving him mad. Never had he gone more than a day without some sort of training, and here, all he'd done for the past week was sit either on his small royal yacht while the crew did all the work, or sit in cafés or on buses or trains. His legs were getting stiff from all the sitting.   
  
Well, tomorrow they'd be hiking in the mountains and he could really stretch again. A thought occurred to him and he glanced surreptitiously at Kodachi's shapely legs. Underneath her demure and polished exterior, there was a hidden strength. She was as physically fit as he was. Herb exhaled an unconsciously held breath. She would not slow him down during the hike.  
  
They could not afford to slow down.  
  
He disliked their leisurely route, but he had to admit that it would not be wise to hike during the daytime. They *had* be traveling nearly constantly, which made him feel slightly less guilty, but he still wished there was a faster way. Airplane travel probably would have been faster, actually, but then again, perhaps not. Tickets on such short notice would have been impossible. Herb didn't like the idea of flying in the air under something else's power besides his own any more than he had liked the tunnel.  
  
At least they would make it with a day to spare before the night of the full moon. That was the most important thing.   
  
He found himself drumming his fingers on the bus seat in front of him.  
  
"Ten yen for your thoughts," Kodachi offered.  
  
"I'm . . . just thinking about my friend, Lime. He was one of those struck by the illness." Herb made a fist, feeling the anger and sensation of impotence at his inability to directly help his friend return. "If he dies . . . if I lose him because I was too late . . . I'll never forgive myself."  
  
Kodachi's wide clear gray eyes caught his, and for a moment he let himself stare into those limpid pools. They held empathy but not pity. She placed one hand over his still drumming fingers, and he froze at the contact. Every sense went on alert. Something about her touch caused his heart to race faster.  
  
"We won't be too late." She squeezed his hand slightly, and then returned to her plans.  
  
Herb closed his eyes and leaned back onto the seat.   
  
Gods, he hoped this trip would end soon . . . if he stayed around a certain witch much longer, he'd lose seventeen years worth of careful training to her unintentional advances.  
  
He could feel the heat of her, next to him on the chilly bus.  
  
He tried to ignore it, and failed.  
  
* * *  
Soun-kyo Onsen, Daisetsuzan National Park, Hoddaido, Japan  
* * *  
  
The inn at Soun-kyo was nice, and Kodachi was glad she had picked it. An entire village had formed around the hotsprings, which were located a few miles south of the gorge for which they were named. She and Herb would be going the other way, however; further south, towards the mountain range. They had finally decided to stop at Teninn-kyou Onsen on their way, as the chilly September weather was already giving in to winter and the temperatures could plummet drastically at night. Herb had seemed please with her choice as well.  
  
They could have shaved two days off their journey if the road to the onsen hadn't been closed due to an avalanche. Rather than make Herb feel even worse, she withheld that information from him and simply let him think the hike was the only way to Teninn-kyou Onsen.   
  
"I have a reservation," she told the clerk at the counter sweetly, and gave him her name. Behind her, Herb glanced around the lobby nervously. He had been like that at the train station as well. Poor thing probably didn't have to deal with crowds at all in China.  
  
The clerk handed her a key, and Kodachi waited a moment for him to hand her the second one. When none seemed forthcoming, she prompted him.  
  
"Excuse me. I had reserved two rooms. May I have the second key?"  
  
"I only showed one reservation," the clerk said. "Lucky you got that one, too. We're booked solid."  
  
Kodachi narrowed her eyes. She didn't mind the prince, but she most certainly did not plan on spending the night with him in the inn.   
  
"You mean there are no rooms left at all?"  
  
"Nope. Sorry, miss." The clerk shrugged. "It's got two double beds though, if that helps."  
  
Kodachi glared but there was nothing she could do. Behind her, she could feel the prince smirking. He was probably looking forward to sharing a room with her. Such a typical male. Exactly the opposite of her Ranma.  
  
But as they made their way to the room, Kodachi realized that she couldn't lie to herself. The prince was actually more like Ranma than he was different. They both had that same careless arrogance and assurance, that same strength and utter confidence in their abilities. And there was something the same with his ki, too, although Kodachi couldn't quite place it.   
  
Their room was a combination of western and eastern inn styles. The soft wooden walls were old and dark, and the windows were rice paper, but the floor was western style carpeting, and the beds were western. It had a private toilet and shower but no furo. Kodachi resigned herself to sharing the small main room with the prince. At least there were, indeed, two separate beds. She would have protested even more if they wouldn't have been sharing a tent at least three nights during the trip.   
  
The prince had just better keep a civil distance.  
  
"I'm going to the hotsprings," she announced, and entered the bathroom to change. She didn't care what the prince did with himself until the next day; it wasn't her job to babysit him the whole time.  
  
She changed into a black two piece bikini with red roses on it, and slipped on a pair of shorts to get her down to the hotsprings in modesty. When she came out the prince had already left. Her stomach growled and reminded her that she hadn't eaten in four hours, and she decided that the prince had probably gone to eat as well.  
  
The famous onsen was actually a collection of many hot springs, and the inn Kodachi had chosen had been built around a cluster of them. A wooden deck surrounded the largest and most popular of them, providing traction. Gratefully, she splashed herself with cool water and began to scrub the worst of the travel grime off. Then with a sigh of relief she sank into the simmering mineral water.  
  
* * *  
  
Herb hadn't stuck around. The vision of Kodachi changing from that French cut suit into anything else was more than enough to make him consider a hasty exit before his imagination filled in details it shouldn't be considering. He should have been relieved; he would be without the witch for the rest of the evening, giving him some much needed time away from her tempting distractions.  
  
Their inn had a small restaurant in it, and Herb ordered a Chinese dish. The French cuisine had been surprisingly filling, but he preferred the familiarity of rice and sauces to mystery meat substances and fancy soups. And there were chopsticks, which made him much happier. Westerners could keep their forks.  
  
After dinner, he wandered into the gift shop. A cluster of young Japanese people were arguing over the authenticity of some of the artifacts presented for sale. One of them, a young man, had the most unusual shade of red hair that Herb had ever seen on a Japanese person, and another boy had to be half-gaijin with that headful of blond hair. A girl was glomped onto the red-head with no intention of letting go.  
  
Herb sighed. He wished . . . he wanted a girl to look at him like that, sometime. Ever since he had learned what a female was (far more than he'd ever wanted to know), he'd shied away from the opposite gender. Until the Jusenkyo curse was gone he had no business even looking at women. But like all of the Musk men, he thirsted desperately for the social contact he had been denied as part of his training. Those Japanese teenagers had no idea what it was like to be isolated from the other half of the human population, denied the human contact that they took for granted.   
  
Although Kodachi, who was still at an all girl's school, did.   
  
Herb frowned to himself. Why did his thoughts keep returning to that witch? He should be happy he wasn't stuck with her for the rest of the night. Instead, he found himself wondering what spring she had gone to, and if she would like his company. Probably not. She had been more than eager to leave him earlier.  
  
He shouldn't risk going to the springs himself. Too dangerous. The water on the decks cooled rapidly, and would undoubtled trigger his curse if he slipped and fell. He couldn't go into the water with his clothes on, either.   
  
With a sigh Herb purchased a bottle of cold spring water, and sipped on it absently as he made his way back up to the room. Only water on the outside skin triggered the curse, which allowed him to enjoy cool beverages in his male half. His thoughts wandered back to Kodachi. What did Japanese females wear when they bathed? On his last trip to Japan, he had stayed at the Neko-hanten, and fortunately Ka Lon had a single-person furo so he'd been spared having to share the bath with Lime and Mint. Still, he wondered. Surely she wasn't naked. He hoped she wasn't. For some reason the idea of Kodachi without clothing on both excited and angered him, which was odd, since he knew more about female anatomy than most male gynecologists. There wasn't any reason to think of her body as special. Yet the idea of other people -- other males -- ogling her perfect curves made him want to hit something very hard.  
  
So distracted was he thinking about Kodachi in the nude that as he turned the corner in the hallway, he didnt't see the girl there until it was too late. He had barely recognized her as the girl glomped onto the boy in the gift shop before the cold water he was drinking doused them both, and with a flash he was a girl and she was a small pot bellied pig.  
  
Female Herb stared down at the pig, who stared back at him pathetically.  
  
"Oh damn," she said softly to the transformed girl. "Spring of drowned pig, eh?" She picked up the pig, who continued to gaze at her with enormous watery eyes." I'm sorry. Jusenkyo's curse is the most miserable thing to live with, I know."  
  
The pig struggled mightily to get away, and Herb gave up. The pig grabbed the dress she had been wearing in her mouth, and her sandles by their straps, and dragged them quickly with a surprising strength down the hallway.  
  
"How many people in this damn country have been to that accursed place, anyway?" Herb muttered, and found her room. She tried the handle but found it locked, and then remembered that Kodachi had the only key.  
  
Then she banged on the door without thinking.   
  
"Kodachi! Open the door! Kodachi!" No one answered, which relieved and horrified Herb all at the same time.  
  
Hot water. She needed hot water. Now.   
  
Wait a minute -- they were at an onsen, right? Surely not every spring had a hotel around it. All she needed was to find a private, unused spring, and she'd be fine.  
  
She set out, failing to notice the hysterical wails that came from the room the pig had entered.  
  
"But the one who did it was a GIRL!"  
  
"Calm down, Kagura!"  
  
"Kagura-chan, are you sure? Maybe it was just a really pretty boy?"  
  
"I knew we shouldn't have come on this damn ski trip."  
  
"Shut up, bakaneko."  
  
* * *  
  
Kodachi sighed and leaned back in the soothing water. Oh yes, this trip with the prince was definitely worth it. She'd needed a vacation. Hokkaido was a little further than she usually wanted to go, but this was nice. Very nice.  
  
She thought she saw the prince scurry past, and rose from the water, which streamed down her trim body as if she were a goddess rising from the sea. Curious, she slipped on her sandles and wrapped herself around with a towel, and followed the familiar cloaked figure.  
  
He had left the deck area and instead gone to the rocky outcrop where the smaller, unused springs were -- they were too small or too hot for the inns around Soun-kyo to use. Her curiosity increased when the prince jumped into one spring out of the blue -- with his clothes on.  
  
She caught up with him quickly.  
  
"Ohji-sama?" she called, and his head whipped around to face her with an unreadable expression. "Why are you in this spring?"  
  
"I slipped," he said. Kodachi didn't believe him.  
  
"Why were you even over here in the first place? All the good springs are over there, by the deck."  
  
"Maybe I wanted to be alone?" he said with clenched teeth.  
  
Kodachi pursed her lips, studying the prince. He looked so . . . sad like that; sopping wet, treading water in the tiny spring. But . . . she too had her secrets, and she really didn't want to argue with the prince.  
  
So instead she held out her hand. "Well, come on, then. At least get out of there before someone sees you."  
  
The prince looked as though he were about to refuse, but then he grabbed her hand and hefted. Kodachi had underestimated the weight of him and his sodden robes, however, and her sandles didn't have a lot of tread. Before she knew it, she had fallen right into the spring with the prince. He caught her before she banged her head on the other side of the tiny pool.  
  
He was warm. The soaking wet cloak and shirt only added to the heat blazing from his chest. It contrasted sharply with the cool night air of the onsen.  
  
They both froze like that for a few moments, until she felt his arms slide around her. The movement felt completely natural, and Kodachi felt herself forgetting to breath. She could feel his heartbeat against her own.  
  
Chest to chest. Cheek to cheek. How many times had she fantasized about the same thing with Ranma? Only . . . when she was with the prince, Ranma became the furthest thing from her mind. Prince Herb was larger, more undeniably masculine in an undefineable way than Ranma.   
  
Finally Herb grew uncomfortable with the silence. "I told you I slipped," he said. "I only wanted to test the temperature." He did not let her go. She did not want him to let her go.  
  
But that was being unfaithful to Ranma, wasn't it? Suddenly confused, Kodachi pulled away, burning with shame at her behavior. She had liked being held by the prince. But she was destined for Ranma . . . wasn't she?  
  
Wordlessly, both she and the prince hauled themselves out of the tiny spring, and walked towards the main part of the onsen, where they both dried themselves off with hot towels the inn provided. Herb had to wring out his cloak and shirt first, and Kodachi saw him for the first time bare-chested -- he really was more muscular than Ranma or her brother, but not grotesquely so. His skin was completely hairless except for his head, adding evidence to his claim that he trained daily.  
  
"I ate dinner earlier, but when I went back to the room I discovered that you had the only key," he finally said to her, breaking the uneasy silence that had been between them since they left the small spring.  
  
"Oh, sorry. Here it is," Kodachi said, and handed it to him without looking him in the face. He took it quickly, and was gone before she had a chance to say anything more.  
  
What's wrong with me? she asked herself as she went to the restaurant. Why is my heart suddenly so unclear? Ranma . . . seems so far away.  
  
And Herb is right here with me.  
  
Feeling wretched, Kodachi ordered a random dish and picked at it without noticing to what she had even ordered.  
  
* * *  
  
Herb stepped out of the hot shower and quickly toweled himself off. His clothes were now hanging to dry in one of the small closets the inn provided, and for the first time in days he was wearing different clothes: still royal white, but without the dragon hide armor. He felt oddly naked without his armor on.   
  
He was toweling his hair off some more when Kodachi knocked on the door. He opened it to let her in, and she took in his freshly washed state with a quick once-over glance that turned Herb's mind to jelly. Self consciously, he sat on the bed he'd claimed as his own and began brushing his long hair.  
  
She grabbed a few items from her bags and went into the bathroom, no doubt doing murky feminine things that Herb still didn't understand, even after being cursed by Jusenkyo. The curse change his body, not his knowledge. He'd had no idea what to do as a female, and because of the nature of his society, he had had no one to ask.  
  
Some things the female half had seemed to know on its own -- how to use the bathroom, for instance. But Herb had been unprepared for the roller coaster of hormones that females dealt with on a daily basis. Breasts only scratched the surface of the difference between men and women. Even now, having lived with the curse of Jusenkyo for many months, he still didn't have a clue as to hwo females survived the absurd cravings and vagaries of their own bodies on a daily basis.   
  
Herb gave up on his hair and fell back onto the western bed with a sigh, He stared at the aged wooden ceiling, and wondered how Lime was doing. Rinse had said he would die of dehydration, not the illness itself, which gave him hope. Mint would make sure that Lime got the sustenance he needed to survive.  
  
Kodachi finally emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam, with a towel wrapped around her head turban style. She was wearing pair of black pajamas, with the usual red and silver rose motif on them.  
  
"Just curious. Do you have ANY other color in your entire wardrobe?"  
  
Kodachi glared at him in his royal white. The only difference between the one had on and the one he had been wearing before, besides the armor, was that the stripe was blue and not red.  
  
"I might ask the same of you, ohji-sama," she said coolly, and sat on her own bed.   
  
"I'll set the alarm for six. That way we can get an early start -- rent the equipment, turn in our hiking plans, and eat breakfast before the sun rises. We'll reach Teninn-kyo shortly after nightfall tomorrow."  
  
"Fine." Aparently they were just going to pretend that the confusing interlude in the spring earlier hadn't happened.  
  
With that, Kodachi slipped under the covers of the enormous western bed, and Herb followed suit. She shut the lamp off. Herb closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but he kept remembering the way she'd felt against his chest in the spring, her soft little body accidentally thrust against his own.   
  
And her breasts . . . the wonderful things he hated and loved all at the same time . . . they had felt nice, too.  
  
"Damn distractions," he muttered to himself, and pulled one of the pillows over his head, running through martial arts kata in his mind to keep away visions of Kodachi in a bikini.  
  
* * *  
End chapter four  
* * *


	5. Five

* * * 

Somewhere, sometime, in L-Space . . . 

* * * 

Setsuna bit her lip, pondering. The last chapter had been a little more introspective; nothing major had happened except thoughts. Well, maybe that was for the best. A story shouldn't be all action and no thought. 

She flipped to the next page, eager to see where the author would take her now.

------------- 

The Spice of Life

[Chapter Five]

An Herb/Kodachi fic

Commissioned by Prince Herb

Written by Cat Who

Beta Read by Rezantis

For Daddy . . .

-------------- 

The alarm went off at six, just like Kodachi had set it, and she sighed. She hadn't slept well at all. Well, today she'd wear herself out walking, so she wouldn't have that problem that evening.   
  
She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and then looked over at the other bed to see that the prince had done the same. So, they were both early risers. For some reason that fact pleased her.  
.  
"Good morning, ohji-sama," she said to the prince brightly, and he gave her a cold look in response. Well, perhaps that was all for the best. She still wasn't sure exactly what she'd felt the night before, and if the prince remained cold to her then she wouldn't have to think about it at all.  
  
"First things first. Breakfast, then check out of the hotel, rent our equipment and be on our way."  
  
"That sounds like a good plan," Herb said dully in response, and began packing his things into the roomy backframe he was using for his luggage.  
  
Kodachi claimed the bathroom first, and hopped into the shower with the intention of enjoying it to its fullest. Tennin-kyo onsen would have the springs and a comfort station, but since it wasn't a village like Soun-kyo it didn't have hotels with clean hot running water. Kodachi liked showers. Soaking was all good and well for the body, but nothing was the same as a good shower scrub, either.  
  
She hummed as the hot water rinsed out the rose conditioner she used from her hair, and then stepped out of the shower naked before selecting a towel and wrapping herself with it. She wondered idly what the prince was doing while he waited his turn for the bathroom. Was he sitting there patiently? Probably not, from what she'd learned about him. He'd be sitting there sulking, or angry because she'd taken so long.  
  
Kodachi pulled her hair into her normal side ponytail and teased her bangs. She had selected her favorite ski suit for today, both for its insulating properties and because it sported the same rose motif as all her other clothing. She hadn't told the prince before, but her wardrobe DIDN'T have any other color besides blacks and reds. It was what witches wore. But the rose motif was one she'd picked on her own. It was her sign, her mark, her style. If the prince didn't like her roses, that was his problem.  
  
She emerged from the bathroom, anticipating his reaction to her outfit, but was disappointed when he wasn't there. He'd left a note on the desk in Japanese:  
  
Gone to check out for us. Don't worry about paying me back. Meet you at breakfast.  
  
Hmmm. So the prince intended to finance at least this night. Perhaps he intended to pay for the entire trip. From what she'd learned of his kingdom, he seemed very wealthy, but some party of Kodachi was disturbed that he was paying for her little vacation. After all, she wasn't doing this for him, she was doing it for Ranma.  
  
"Ranma darling, do but await for my return to Nerima. I shall free you from that spell no matter what it takes."  
  
But even to herself the words sounded forced and hollow. She wasn't doing this for Ranma any more than she was doing it for herself.  
  
* * *  
  
Back in Nerima, Kuno had tried everything he could think of to get the tape into the VCR without getting zapped by Kodachi's warding spells. Insulated gloves hadn't worked. Using Mr. Turtle's collar to grab it hadn't worked. Using his toes hadn't worked.  
  
So this morning he had decided to strike a deal with the devil.  
  
"Kuno-chan, this had better be good if you're dragging me out here at six thirty in the morning," Nabiki Tendou said, stifling a yawn.  
  
"It is, oh it is, Nabiki Tendou. I have in my posession a video taken by my twisted sister that bears the cursed name of Saotome upon it. Due to my sister's evil warding spells, I am unable to view it. I need you to put it into the VCR for me."  
  
Nabiki eyed him coolly, her mind calculating how best to make a profit out of the situation.  
  
"One thousand yen," she said, figuring that anything more for putting a tape in the VCR was unfair. She might be able to use the tape for her own profit, after all.  
  
"Miser," Kuno said, and paid her grudgingly.  
  
Nabiki pocketed the yen, and reached for the tape in question which was on the floor where Kuno had dropped it the last time he'd tried to touch it.  
  
She picked it up with no problems, and hefted it, curious. "I wonder why you had such a hard time picking it up, Kuno-chan. You say it electrocuted you before?"  
  
Kuno nodded angrily. "The twisted sister has a powerful ward on it. Her evil hocus-pocus could be the only thing that makes it so."  
  
Nabiki shrugged and started toward the VCR, when an odd feeling began spreading from the arm that held the tape. She stopped in mid-stride and stared at the tape, then glanced back to Kuno, blinking a few times.  
  
"Why hast thou paused in thy mission, Nabiki Tendou?"  
  
"Kuno-chan, are you sure she doesn't have poison on this?" Nabiki narrowed her eyes and dropped the tape on the ground. The odd feeling was rapidly spreading from her arm to the rest of her body.  
  
The sensation was oddly familiar, and it wasn't until she looked directly at Kuno that she realized exactly what it was.  
  
Oh. Oh no. Oh no no no.  
  
"I'll just be leaving now," she said quickly, and started to walk hurriedly toward the door.  
  
"I paid thee good yen, Nabiki Tendou, for services I have yet to see rendered," Kuno argued, and grabbed her arm before she could escape.  
  
Nabiki was fighting the magic as hard as she could, but the particular warding spell Kodachi had used reacted differently to every person, and for Nabiki, it had chosen to act as an aphrodesiac.  
  
Even as strong willed as she was, she couldn't fight it, and had to give in.  
  
"I'll just have to render those services some other way then, Kuno-chan," she said, and the look of confusion on his pretty-boy face was almost priceless.  
  
She'd kill Kodachi once she returned to Nerima, but in the meantime she had more important things to worry about.  
  
"Nabiki Tendou? What are you --"  
  
Kuno never knew what hit him.  
  
* * *  
  
Herb, for his part, was in the restaurant on the bottom floor of the hotel, wolfing down a large portion of the continental breakfast provided by the hotel for free. Kodachi's birdlike eating habits were getting to him; he was used to five or six square meals a day. He didn't know how she sustained her lean muscle mass (he had seen her arms bare for the first time last night, and been suitably impressed) when by all rights she should have died of starvation several years ago. He'd have to put some sense (as well as some food) into her if either of them expected to have the energy they needed to survive the trip.  
  
"Oh there you are, ohji-sama," Kodachi said from nowhere, joining him at the small cafe table in the lobby of the hotel. Herb studied her critically. She wore a skintight black ski suit (with the usual red and silver rose motif embroidered on the pockets) that outlined her healthy figure, leaving little to his imagination. Herb was torn between the instincts to toss his cloak over her and haul her back to their room over his shoulder, or grab her and--  
  
No. Where had *that* thought come from? Herb's heart pounded loudly in his chest. For a moment there . . . for a moment, he had wanted to grab her and kiss her senseless.  
  
Kodachi eyed his stack of paper plates, and glanced over at the demolished contintental breakfast. "I see you've eaten," she said simply, and hefted the apple she'd picked up from a stand on a nearby table.   
  
"You don't eat enough, witch," Herb answered, feeling cross for some reason.  
  
"I just eat the proper things instead. You need to avoid those artery-clogging foods you seem so fond of."  
  
All urges to glomp the witch and kiss her silly disappeared. She could be so irritating.  
  
"What I eat is of no concern to you," he growled.  
  
"Then what I eat should be no concern to you," she pointed out smartly, and bit into her apple with a satisfied smirk.  
  
But Herb was not willing to concede the argument so readily. "It IS my concern if you pass out while we're hiking. While this may seem like a vacation to you, we're here on a mission and I am not going to carry you across Hokkaido if you pass out on me. Now, EAT." With that, he shoved a plate of cheese danishes towards her. By her faintly guilty look, he realized he'd won the battle, but from the low fire burning in her eyes he knew that the war was far from over.  
  
* * *  
  
Fed and packed, the two teenagers went to the rental store a few blocks down from the resort hotel, and picked up the supplies they'd need for three days on the road. Kodachi handed the police substation a copy of their route, and before long they were on their way through a main trail between the distant mountains.  
  
"We should reach Tennin-kyou-onsen long before nightfall," Kodachi explained. They had fallen into a matching stride; Kodachi was used to stretching her legs so she had no problem keeping up with the prince.  
  
"Good. I don't like traveling at night." Kodachi looked at the prince and willed him to explain further, which he did. "Night travel is more trouble than it's worth, and my draconic blood likes to be curled up in a cave when the sun goes down."  
  
"I like the night myself. Witches, well, occult forces in general are very much in tune with the cycles of the moon, and at night the moon is at its brightest and most beautiful."  
  
"Dragons are creatures of the sun, on the other hand," Herb offered.  
  
"Right, in most cultures anyway. Day and night . . . yin and yang." Kodachi shrugged, the heavy gear on her back making the gesture a bit difficult. Herb seemed not to notice that he was carrying almost a hundred additional pounds of equipment. "They are complements to each other."  
  
"Does that mean that we complement each other?" Prince Herb asked, and Kodachi looked at him oddly. He looked back at her with such a guileless, innocent expression that Kodachi decided he hadn't meant ill by the question.  
  
"In the same thing that male and female complement each other," she answered, avoiding the true meaning of the question. "There are many other factors involved in personality, of course. Year by Eastern zodiacs, month, day, even hour by Western astrology. And of course one's environment has an impact of personality, besides the innate nature of the self."  
  
They crested the first of a series of small hills on the path, which afforded them a beautiful panoramic view of Daisetsuzan in its full morning splendor. The soft muted blue mountains rose gently against the crimson sunrise, so that the light seemed to be emanating from the heart of Hokkaido itself.  
  
They stopped talking and paused in reverance for the wonder of nature before them. Other hikers and tourists also stood nearby, awestruck at the sight.  
  
"Magnificent," Kodachi finally dared to breath, and the prince rumbled something in assent next to her. They stood there for a long time before reluctantly moving on. Sunrises, like cherry blossoms, would not last forever, and it would be better to take the memory at its most beautiful than to ruin it by lingering on beyond its time.  
  
"You come from a mountainous region of China, right, ohji-sama?" Kodachi asked conversationally.  
  
"Right. We're in the wilderness west of Korea, north of Bejing. The population in the area around us has exploded in the past hundred years, but the Musk Kingdom, isolated as it is, has stayed relatively small."  
  
"I shall enjoy seeing it," Kodachi said honestly, and flashed a smile to the prince. He blinked, and found himself smiling back for no reason whatsoever.   
  
Their fight from earlier all but forgotten, they continued on their way, chatting companionably about the sites.  
  
Around noon, Prince Herb called for a break, and Kodachi, whose stomach was growling as well, agreed without argument. They stopped by one of the many hot springs that peppered the area.  
  
"As a rule, I don't like springs," the prince offered, eyeing the steaming water nervously.   
  
"Whyever not, ohji-sama?"  
  
"Let's just say I had an embarassing experience once." Herb winced, and took a huge bite out of the compressed imported pemmican cake he had chosen for lunch. "I don't like to talk about it."  
  
Kodachi smiled to herself. Prince Herb was slowly becoming more open to her; the Prince she had met two days ago would never have admitted to being embarassed about something. He didn't seem like the kind of person who ever wanted to admit a weakness.  
  
And yet . . . she knew, somehow, that there was still something about him that she wasn't aware of. Something important that defined him, some special thing that made Herb tick.  
  
"Do you have any siblings?" she asked, by way of making conversation.   
  
"No. Well, not that I know of. I know I have no brothers. If I have any sisters, I don't know about them."  
  
"Naturally you wouldn't." Kodachi pursed her lips, and nibbled on her own pemmican cake thoughtfully.  
  
"What about you? Do you have any brothers or sisters?"  
  
"Only one idiot savant brother. He is the captain of the kendo team at his high school. Unlike me, he is a Squib and could not attend a wizard's school."  
  
"A squib?"  
  
"One who is born to a wizarding family without magic. Normally it is something to be embarassed about, but Tatewaki has compensated for his lack of magic by hating my own and denying our mother's heritage."  
  
In Nerima, Kuno sneezed in Nabiki's arms, waking them up and prompting a scream of horror from them both.  
  
"I don't even know if my mother has a heritage," Herb said thoughtfully. "I've never even met her."  
  
"Who knows, she could be a witch as well," Kodachi suggested with a smile, and finished off her pemmican cake.  
  
"About this . . . food," Herb asked, gesturing toward his second cake. "This isn't Japanese, is it?"  
  
Kodachi shook her head. "It's imported from the United States. The natives there used it as winter food. It's berries and meat ground up to form a paste, which is then baked over a fire to make the cake."  
  
Herb's thoughtful expression stayed on his face as he munched on it some more. "You know, witch, you're good for answering questions."  
  
Kodachi arched an eyebrow. "I'll take that as a compliment, ohji-sama." She began repacking her bag.  
  
"You're pretty, too."  
  
Kodachi felt herself turn as red as an apple. She pretended she hadn't hurt the honesty in Herb's voice.  
  
Think of Ranma . . . think of Ranma . . . think of Ranma . . .  
  
But it was hard to think of Ranma when it was the first time a male, any male, had ever said she was pretty.   
  
Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to work one's way into a girl's heart. Some women require gifts, showers of attention, or constant wooing before they will even consider looking at a man. But Kodachi wasn't that sort of girl.  
  
In her case, all it took was a few simple words.  
  
She turned around, finally ready to face the prince, and met his eyes fully for the first time. His eyes . . . they were that deep vermillion color that spoke of magical blood.   
  
Prince Herb stood up, and Kodachi took a tentative step closer. Her heart began thudding somewhere near her stomach.  
  
"I-"  
  
"Ohji-sama-" they both began at the same time.  
  
"Please, call me Herb."  
  
"Herb-sama, I . . . can't be doing this. I just can't. I gave my heart to Ranma . . ."  
  
"And did he ever accept it?"  
  
Kodachi hung her head, and stiffened when she felt Herb's hands on her shoulders. The touch . . . warm through her insulated ski suit, so friendly and innocent, sent jolts of electricity running up her spine nonetheless.  
  
"You deserve more than some halfling," Herb said, and there was a note of sadness in his voice. She glanced up again, but he wasn't looking at her. He instead stared out at the mountains, an unreadable and distant look in his eyes.  
  
"I said before I wouldn't mind being with him even if whatever spell he is cursed with remained. But . . ."  
  
"He loves that other one."  
  
Kodachi frowned in irritation. Deep down, she had known, but she'd never wanted to admit it. She had lost him before she ever really had a chance to win him.  
  
There's something about the purity of the mountains that makes one realize all the delusions one lives with in life. Kodachi unwillingly shed her greatest one at that moment. Ranma would never be hers.  
  
She wasn't surprised when the tears began rolling down her cheeks, and more surprised when the prince wiped one away.  
  
"Herb-sama, I want--" she started to say, but the yazuka bandits who had slowly been surrounding them during that touching scene chose that moment to attack.  
  
* * *  
  
"Well, well, well," the leader said, hefting a bully club and grinning horribly behind his ski mask. "Lookit' what we got here. A pair of sweet, innocent lovebirds with no brains in the middle of the mountains."  
  
Herb cursed under his breath and hissed to Kodachi, "Bandits? In a national park??"  
  
Kodachi shrugged and slipped out from under his grip very slowly. There were at least six yazuka besides the leader. Herb knew he could take them all out easily enough by himself, but he couldn't do it while protecting Kodachi.  
  
He had never been so angry . . .  
  
  
"Feel the battle aura burning off that one, boys," the boss said. "This is going to be fun."  
  
Kodachi had worked her way behind Herb carefully, so that they now were back to back. Her hand crept to the ribbon -- and wand -- carefully tucked in her thigh pocket.  
  
"And the girl's a prize too, eh boss," one of the other masked yazuka members said, earning a few chuckles of agreement from the others.   
  
Herb was going to make them all very, very sorry for that.  
  
At that moment, Kodachi chose to power up.  
  
"Black rose petal blizzard!" she cried, and the entire area around them suddenly filled with a storm of roses. No one could see anything beyond the wall of black that swarmed around them.  
  
"What the hell--?"  
  
"Boss! They're over there!"  
  
"Ouch, that was me you asshole!"  
  
"Now, Herb-sama!"  
  
The black rose petals instantly fell to the ground. Herb wasted no time leaping for the boss. A few well placed kicks among the confusion, and he was down. By then, the others had started attacking, and Prince Herb reveled in the heat of battle.  
  
This is what I trained for all those years, he thought proudly as he finished the other yazuka off with terse, economical movements, only using his flight powers once.  
  
But wait . . . hadn't there been six?  
  
With three down from his blows, Herb turned around to see Kodachi, clad in a tiny black leotard giving a finishing punch to the last of the three yazuka who had unwisely attacked her.   
  
Herb was dumbfounded.  
  
"You . . . you're a warrior!"  
  
"Martial arts rhythmic gymnastics," Kodachi answered smugly. "First ranked in all of Tokyo on floor work for three years, too." She put one hand on her hip, and twirled her ribbon in idle circles over one of the fallen yazuka.  
  
Herb was literally speechless. For one thing, she hadn't broken a sweat while fighting off three gang members who were twice her size. But also . . . the leotard outlined what even the swimsuit she had worn the night before hadn't. Kodachi the Black Rose had a perfect figure.  
  
"If you'll excuse me. Black rose petal storm!" The roses surrounded Kodachi alone this time, and when they fell to the ground, she was once again clad in her ski suit.  
  
She smiled at him, and walked over to where he stood, kicking one of the fallen yazuka on principle.   
  
Herb simply stared at her, unable to take his eyes off her. Ye gods, what a woman!  
  
Kodachi reached up and closed his jaw with one delicate hand, then picked up her equipment.  
  
"Come on, Herb-sama. We still have to make it to Tennin-kyou-onsen before nightfall."  
  
Herb collected himself and followed her, glancing over the yazuka one last time to make sure they were all still unconscious.  
  
"Wait up, Kodachi-san," he said, calling her by her name for the first time since he'd met her. He ran to catch up with her, and she paused with a tiny smile before walking on.  
  
* * *  
  
The hike between Soun-kyou and Tennin-kyou wasn't very long. The two teenagers had chosen an easy path, so they reached the second spring resort a few hours before sunset. However, the sky grew steadily cloudier, until it was almost dark as night when they arrived.   
  
Unlike Soun-kyou-onsen, which was the major tourist stop in the park, Tennin-kyou-onsen boasted a rougher outlook to camping. With the avalanche blocking the main road, business was slow in even the most popular campsites, so even if Kodachi hadn't reserved a site, they wouldn't have had a problem finding someplace to stay.  
  
"It will get cold tonight," she said, as they hauled freshly purchased firewood toward their sandy plot.  
  
"I hope it doesn't snow," Herb commented, eying the overcast sky.   
  
"I don't think it will . . . the forecast was for cloudy skies, yes, but there was no prediction of snow. It's actually still too early for real winter, even here on Hokkaido."  
  
"I hope you're right." Herb began stacking the wood, and then took out an elegant lighter to start the tinder up.  
  
"Allow me," Kodachi offered, and took out her wand. "Flame," she whispered, and a line of fire shot out from the end of her wand, lighting the fire in seconds.  
  
"Do you do anything without magic?" Herb asked, slightly miffed.  
  
"I eat and sleep," she answered with a secret smile.   
  
"You shouldn't rely on it so much. What if you ever were in a situation where you couldn't use it? What would you do then?"  
  
"Oh, I know all the conventional ways of doing things. But. . . for the wizarding community worldwide, magic is completely integrated into daily life. There are entire towns composed of nothing but witches and wizards in some countries."  
  
"Even so," Herb began, and then gave up.  
  
Kodachi set some water to boil over the fire.  
  
"Perhaps you are right, Herb-sama. I do rely on my magic too much. But for me to live without it would be for you to try to live without your dragon blood. Magic is such a deep part of my life. I've been in witching school for six years now . . . one more year, and I'll be a certified, official witch."  
  
"What will you do then?"  
  
Kodachi didn't have a ready answer to that. Before this afternoon, her instant response would have been "Marry Ranma and have lots of children" but now, with Ranma a dream to remain unrealized, she had a lot more possibilies ahead of her.  
  
"I don't know," she answered honestly, and stirred the hot water.  
  
"It must be nice not knowing."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"I've known, ever since I was little, that I would be the next king of the Musk kingdom. That someday dad would retire and leave the responsibility to me." Herb stared at the fire, and poked it with a stick. The flickering light played on his handsome features, adding to his ethereal good looks. His ears in particular fascinated Kodachi; they ended in those wonderful, delicate points that make him look more like a youkai in human form than a human with dragon blood.  
  
"I suppose that's the price of being born to privilege . . . you have all you want in the world materialistically, but you lack the ability to make your own decisions." Kodachi nodded thoughtfully, and added some bouillon to the boiling water.   
  
"Exactly," Herb agreed, and leaned back on the ground, looking at the cloudy sky. They were silent for a peaceful moment.  
  
After a while, Kodachi started adding chunks of dried vegetables to the soup. They made a soft plopping sound, and the occasional splatter hissed on the fire below.  
  
"You may want to go ahead and set up the tent, Herb-sama," she suggested. She watched as the prince sat up again slowly, the heavy muscles in his arms flexing beneath his cloak and armor. The prince really is a handsome looking man, she thought to herself, and stared at him in honest feminine apreciation. Bulkier than Ranma, certainly, but not fat. Broad-shouldered. Whereas Ranma was wiry and lean, the prince rippled with muscles added over the course of seventeen long years.  
  
He finished with one tent and started on the other, right next to it. Kodachi almost wished . . . but no, that was silly.  
  
Part of her wanted to share a tent with the prince. It would be against all propriety, but she wanted to see what he looked like when he was asleep, with is too pretty lashes covering those otherworldly eyes, with the permanent scowl of smugness his face bore in the waking world erased by the realm of dreams. What did the prince dream of? What were the wishes of his heart?  
  
By the time he had finished with the tents, their soup was done, and Kodachi ladled it out into the compact dishes they had brought with them.   
  
"It is a lot simpler than the food I normally prepare," she said apologetically after she tasted it. The broth was warn and mealy, although a little plainer than she prefered.  
  
"It's fine," Herb said, closing his eyes as if to savor the taste. "You do cook well."  
  
A greater compliment to a Japanese woman probably did not exist. Kodachi blushed and finished off her own soup.  
  
Cleaning up the dishes only took a few moments, and then the teenagers went to one of the community baths of Tenninkyou for their evening ablutions. As rough as Tennin-kyou was, its main purpose was as a tourist attraction, and so it was not without its luxuries. Kodachi, soaking languidly in the hot water, wondered what the prince was doing in the men's area.  
  
* * *  
  
"Auuggggh! Stop looking at me, you insolent fools!" A cold, wet, naked female Herb ignored the shocked and lecherous stares from the men as she stalked across the bath house. No one had bothered to tell her that the only water the showers here had was cold.   
  
Muttering half-serioous threats to the men, she leapt into the shallow hotspring and emerged male.  
  
Steam rising from his hair, Herb glared at no one in particular and muttered, "I hate my life sometimes."  
  
* * *  
  
Kodachi was toweling her hair off in front of the fire when the prince returned. He looked strange with his pink and ble hair slicked back away from his face, emphasizing his pointed ears.  
  
"We don't have an alarm here, so the first of us to awake should wake the other tomorrow," Kodachi suggested to him. The prince nodded but said nothing; the scowl that had been on his face when she first met him had returned, even though it had softened somewhat earlier that day. Kodachi sighed. Apparently whatever had happened that afternon between them had been a fluke.  
  
Herb banked the fire, then crawled into his tent, mumbling "good night" barely loud enough for Kodachi to hear it.  
  
"Good night, ohji-sama," she said, reverting back to the more formal tone. Prince Herb seemed to ignore it, and Kodachi decided not to let it get to her.  
  
Something must have happened in the bathhouse, she thought as she clambered into her own tent, burrowing deeply into the warm thermal sleeping bag.   
  
But what? What could have made the prince so upset in so short a time?  
  
Puzzled by the unanswered questions, Kodachi fells asleep as the first snowflakes began to fall.  
  
**End chapter five**  



	6. Six

-----  
Somewhere, sometime in L-Space  
-----  
  
Sestuna had flopped her legs over the arms of the chair, and was reading  
with her nose nearly in the book. The plate of cheesecake lay forgotten  
next to her, with crumbs scattered across it. Beside it was an empty  
cup that had once held green tea. The senshi of time looked very  
relaxed, very calm, very peaceful -- and very sexy to certain eyes as  
she lay there.  
  
"Ahhh, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Lady  
Setsuna the sun," a silky voice drawled from nowhere. The Librarian  
looked up, her magenta eyes narrowing when she saw the owner of the  
voice.  
  
She raised one eyebrow in query. Shinigami, one of the six Universal  
Aspects, smirked back before continuing. " The warmth matches the  
glitter, too."  
  
Indirectly saying she was hot. The pervert never quit; apparently he  
had a fetish for green haired girls, as indicated by his continuous  
come-ons to his own sister (Setsuna's 'boss,' so to speak), the  
Universal Aspect of Time.  
  
"'Lady, may I lay in your lap?'" he quoted, with an overeager and  
hopeful smile. He must surely be the world's oldest virgin, Setsuna  
thought with a sigh.  
  
She didn't have to put up with this sort of harassment, and they both  
knew it. Still without saying anything, she took out her henshin wand,  
and transformed it into the Garnet Rod, which she pointed directly at  
him. He shouldn't be in the Library of Space and Time anyway, even if  
he was an omnipresent force of the Universe.  
  
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks," Shi said, backing away with  
a nervous smile on his face. Setsuna stared him down, and brought her  
legs from their resting position on the arm of the chair back to the  
ground.  
  
Shi knew that she couldn't do any serious damage to him, let alone kill  
him, but he also knew that he could do no damage to any woman. He chose  
to retreat.  
  
"Then I shall say farewell until tomorrow," the Aspect of Death misquoted,  
just before he broke into a dead run. The last thing he heard was a  
whispered 'Dead Scream' as an enormous ball of power came blasting at  
him from behind.  
  
Once he collected himself, he looked back to where the Senshi of Time  
had been sitting, only to find her no longer there. The cheesecake  
plate and her cup of green tea were also gone.  
  
"Oro?" Shi said, scratching his head, then shrugged and continued on.  
There were still more girls out there; ones who might respond better to  
his attempt at literary cleverness.  
  
"Words, words, words," he quoted to himself, and went toward the  
elevator.  
  
Several aisles away, Setsuna sighed and curled up on a couch. Shi  
thought he was the gods' gift to women, which probably couldn't be  
further from the truth. He tried to pick up any woman at any place and  
any time, even ones that actually weren't defined, like the Library.  
He'd probably broken in looking for his sister, or something.  
  
Now, where had she been? Ah, chapter six. She flipped to the appropriate  
page. Let's see . . .  
  
------------  
  
The Spice of Life  
[Chapter Six]  
An Herb/Kodachi fic  
Requested by Prince Herb  
Written by Cat Who  
Beta Read by Rezantis  
  
For Daddy . . .  
  
------------  
  
Overnight, Mother Nature had transformed the hotsprings at Tennin-kyo  
into a snowy fairground.  
  
Observe two tents nearly buried up to their tops in snow. The flakes,  
which still fell, would soon bury the occupants in a bank of snug  
whiteness, without their ever knowing. That four feet of snow had fallen  
overnight was not unheard of in Hokkaido, although it was unusual this  
early in the season. What was particularly unusual was that the howling  
winds normally woke the sleeping campers up before they found themselves  
buried alive.  
  
Peer inside one tent. The crown prince of the Musk Kingdom of China had  
no idea that his traveling companion was still asleep, aside from the  
fact that she had not woken him up like they had agreed the night  
before. It appeared to be dark outside, which would explain said  
traveling companion's absence, but it did not explain why the Prince's  
usually accurate circadian clock was telling him it was morning.  
  
"Damn the witch," he muttered, his foul mood from the evening before not  
entirely gone. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and shrugged out of  
the warm cocoon of his sleeping bag. He was surprised at how warm the  
interior of the tent was; last night the temperature had plummeted  
rapidly.  
  
Well, his body had some physical needs to take care of (stupid mornings)  
and he'd better go see what time it was. Kodachi had a watch; like all  
males in the Musk kingdom, he had learned to use the sun and moon.  
  
He was not surprised to see that it was daylight. He was, however, very  
surprised to see that the ground was now covered in a thick fluffy layer  
of white.  
  
"Oh, for crying out loud," he muttered, and shoved the pile of snow away  
from his tent. As if he didn't have enough problems. Continuous snowfall  
could put them a day or more off schedule, or worse if it was bad, and  
they didn't have that much time to spare.  
  
"Witch, it's time to get up," he shouted towards her tent, and then  
noticed that it too was buried in the snow. Entirely. Whereas his had  
been buried only up to the top with the airhole free, Kodachi's smaller  
pup tent had been swallowed completely.  
  
Suddenly nauseated at the horrible thought of Kodachi suffocating in the  
tent, Herb began to scrabble frantically at the tent flap. With numbed  
fingers he finally found the plastic zipper pull, and tugged at it  
impatiently.  
  
"Kodachi!" he cried, diving into her tent. She was curled into a ball  
inside her sleeping bag, her delicate lashes resting on her pale cheek,  
much as they had the day before on the train. Herb froze, struck by her  
simple beauty and total vulnerability. While she was asleep, her tart  
tongue couldn't snap retorts at him, and her magic was a thing she could  
only use while awake, as far as he knew. Herb was relieved to see she  
was still breathing.  
  
He felt a bit silly, though, for overreacting and shouting like a girl  
over this . . . girl. Putting on his best manly man gruff face in order  
to pretend he hadn't acted in such a manner, he gently but firmly shook  
her shoulder. She batted feebly at his hand, like a kitten, then blinked  
her huge gray eyes sleepily at nothing.  
  
"Eh?" she murmured in temporary confusion, then yawned. Herb leaned back  
on his heels, aware of just how small her tent was and not wanting to  
impose on her personal space any more than he had to.  
  
"It's morning, Kodachi."  
  
"Already?" she said with another yawn, and stretched, exposing one silk  
pajama-clad arm to the cold air. She quickly snatched it back, and  
glared at the snowy vista visible behind Herb, suddenly awake and  
grumpy. For no reason at all, Herb smiled ever so slightly to himself.  
So the witch had her own limits for the cold after all, for all her talk  
about coolness the day before.  
  
Maybe she'd like the warm jungles of his home in China. Maybe she'd find  
the environment tempting enough to wish to stay there with him after  
this was all over. Maybe . . .  
  
"We should go soon," he chided gently, and left her to do whatever  
mysterious morning things females had to do.  
  
Maybe she could love a half-freak like me . . . wait, she DID love a  
half-freak like me . . . maybe she could learn to love . . . just me.  
  
Herb trotted off to the restroom to relieve his bladder, his emotions  
tumbling around his head like so many leaves, caught in the maelstrom of  
may-bes.  
  
* * *  
  
That's a different way to wake up, Kodachi thought as she zipped her  
tent up and changed from her black pajamas to the warm ski suit. A girl  
could get used to waking up to a face like that.  
  
He's prettier than Ranma, she continued idly to herself, recalling those  
narrow scarlet eyes and aristocratic nose. Chinese or not, he was  
handsome enough to put most of the boys she'd seen in Japan to shame.  
  
By the time she emerged into the snow frosted environment, Herb had  
returned from the bathroom and had already started disassembling his  
tent. His cloak was pulled tightly around him, and she could see that  
the cold air was bothering him. He did not belong in Hokkaido.  
  
"Ohji-sama, shall I prepare some biscuits and fruit for our morning  
repast?" she offered as she began to rekindle the banked fire. Herb  
nodded in acknowledgement, and finished packing up his tent before  
beginning on hers.  
  
When his back was turned, Kodachi took out her wand and discreetly said  
a fire spell that made the flames lick merrily at the tinder. No sense  
in having magic if you couldn't use it, after all.  
  
She warmed a few traveling biscuits and mixed dried apples,  
cranberries, and pears with clean snow and a packet of seasonings to  
make a sweet fruit compote. Before long the rich scent filled the camp,  
and she heard the prince's stomach growl as he worked. She couldn't  
help but grin.  
  
Instant tea and granola finished the meal. Once Herb had their  
equipment packed, he plopped down on the other side of the fire, and  
Kodachi could see his nose quiver in anticipation.  
  
She handed him a paper plate with three opened biscuits on it.  
  
"If you prefer, you can spoon the fruit compote over the biscuits, or  
you eat them separately. They're good either way, but the compote  
softens the biscuits." Kodachi herself had the compote spread like jam  
on the biscuits and was nibbling on one delicately.  
  
With a shrug, Herb imitated her and began to demolish his meal. Kodachi  
watched, amused, as he polished off his biscuits, the extra ones she had  
made, the fruit compote, the granola, and tea, all in record time. She  
herself was full after only two compote biscuits, but she was glad she  
had made extra for the hungry prince.  
  
They'd have enough food to get them to Hebereke and back today, and to  
Soun-kyou onsen tomorrow, but only just. Kodachi had planned well.  
  
Once they had finished, Kodachi cleaned up the breakfast trash and took  
her turn in the bathroom, while Herb splashed the fire with water and  
snow to make sure it was truly out. The division of labor between them  
had come naturally; they simply did what had to be done now without  
request. Kodachi liked that. She would do her part, and he would do  
his, and all would be well.  
  
Until this is over, anyway, she thought with a sigh as she returned to  
find the camp properly broken. They were ready to continue on their  
journey.  
  
"Hopefully the weather will stay clear, as we haven't got any time to  
spare," Herb said as he shrugged on his bag. Kodachi glanced at the  
sky, which shone blue although crisp and cold.  
  
"I believe the weather will not worsen today," she said thoughtfully,  
her breath clouding up in reminder of the harsh cold that had already  
been visited upon them.  
  
"Let's go."  
  
Kodachi grabbed her own backframe, taking the map and recipe out and  
pocketing them before following the prince, who had set out on the trail  
to the mountains with a look of fierce determination on his face. She  
caught up quickly and fell into pace beside him on the wide path. They  
walked in silence again, since nothing needed to be said for now.  
  
* * *  
  
The sun was small and cold overhead, and Herb silently cursed whatever  
gods had thought to torment him so on his journey. Was this a test to  
determine his worthiness for the throne of the Musk? Or were the kami  
just being cruel to spite him? Whatever the cause, Herb hated the cold  
more than ever now.  
  
Snow itself did not trigger his curse. It was cool moisture that caused  
the change, not cool dryness. However, if the snow were to melt on his  
skin he'd change in an instant. For protection, he kept his cloak tight  
around him, and made sure to tramp down the snow where he stepped so  
that none would get inside his elaborate and *not* made for snowy  
weather shoes.  
  
They'd been traveling steadily for over an hour now, only speaking when  
necessary for aid over particularly rocky spots. Kodachi showed no  
signs of fatigue even though this was their second day of hiking, and  
Herb's respect for her went up yet another notch. She could match him  
in this. She apparently could match him in fighting, both with words  
and with body. She had yet to fall short of him in anything, and Herb  
wondered if she ever would.  
  
"Hebereke-yama is not far now," Kodachi said as they crested a hill,  
holding their hands around their eyes to shield them from the blinding  
snow reflection. She pointed to a rather smallish mountain in the  
Daisetsuzan chain, unassuming and plain compared to its more dramatic  
neighbors. "We should reach it around two in the afternoon."  
  
Herb's stomach growled, and he scowled in general anger, trying to hide  
the sound. Kodachi seemed not to notice, but then she turned and said,  
"We'll break for lunch before then, of course. Let us continue."  
  
Herb sighed, and then noticed water dripping off the rocks next to them.  
The snow was melting. That meant even MORE cold water to contend with.  
  
It couldn't get any worse, could it?  
  
* * *  
  
They paused for lunch a few hours later. Kodachi chose a quick meal and  
heated up some water for instant ramen. She'd never really liked ramen  
unless it was made properly, but to the hungry even ramen in a cup is  
delicious.  
  
As she sipped the warm broth, she furtively peered at the scowling  
prince, who seemed to be inhaling the ramen whole from the cup his  
chopsticks were moving so fast.  
  
"I think we're about two mountains away now," Kodachi offered. "We  
can't see it since its neighbor is so big, but I can already feel the  
aura."  
  
"Aura?" Herb queried.  
  
"The aura of Hebereke-sama." Kodachi stood up and closed her eyes,  
inhaling deeply, and focusing on the gentle bath of magical warmth  
radiating from the pure center of the ancient witch's camp. "You should  
be able to feel it too, ohji-sama," she said, spreading her arms wide to  
embrace more of the magic.  
  
She heard the prince shift, and they stayed in silence there for a  
moment, the wind whipping tendrils of their hair around their faces.  
The mountain beckoned to them, the magic drawing Kodachi in as if she  
were coming home.  
  
"Hey, Kodachi," the prince said, his voice sound brittle in the frigid  
mountain air.  
  
"Yes, ohji-sama?" she answered, turning to face him, opening her eyes  
again, breaking the spell.  
  
"I . . . that is . . ." The prince shifted awkwardly and looked away,  
blushing slightly. "Thank you for all your help."  
  
"It is help freely given," Kodachi answered with a genuine smile, and  
took his hand. "Come along. We are almost there."  
  
The prince allowed himself to be pulled up, and Kodachi wondered if she  
had only imagined him squeezing her hand ever so slightly.  
  
* * *  
  
They stood at the base of Hebereke-yama, looking up at the oversized  
hill with trepidition. This mountain was off the beaten path; no one  
ever climbed it because it didn't present much of a challenge as far as  
mountain-climbing went. Hebereke-sama had walked up it in geta almost  
daily, after all.  
  
"The cave is there," Kodachi said, and pointed up the mountain. "Right  
next to that small waterfall."  
  
Herb winced and made a note to himself to avoid that side of the cave  
altogether. He didn't even have to be involved in gathering the spice;  
Kodachi was the only one who could touch it, and once she had gathered  
it, it would remain tightly sealed in the jar she had brought along.  
  
The began climbing, following a gentle grassy slope that sharpened to  
bald rock outcrops near the middle. They had to stop to catch their  
breath after a particularly nasty incline, and then they were there . .  
. at the mouth of the cave of Mt Hebereke-yama.  
  
They dropped their equipment onto the ground, and stretched for a few  
moments, trying to work the kinks out of muscles sore from hiking. They  
had made it.  
  
"All right then, witch," Herb said, after they were reasonably  
comfortable again. "Where is this spice at?"  
  
Kodachi took out the recipe and directions, and pored through them for a  
bit. Herb admired the way she pulled her lips into a pout while she  
concentrated, as if she was annoyed that whatever task she was doing  
wasn't going fast enough.  
  
Finally, she placed her thumb over the answer, and smiled at him  
triumphantly.  
  
"It's behind the waterfall." She pointed to the stone behind the cold  
rush of water, where a faint blue green glow seemed to emanate from the  
mountain face itself. "Way up high."  
  
Herb felt the blood drain from his face. He had a sudden sense of  
horrible dread.  
  
Kodachi movied over to the waterfall, not minding the heavy drops of ice  
cold water that splashed on her face and neck. She reached up, and  
jumped a little, but even Herb could see that she was several feet  
short.  
  
"Ohji-sama, I believe I will require your assistance for this," she  
called, and leaned directly into the water, getting instantly soaked, in  
another attempt to reach the spice.  
  
"No," he balked, and actually backed away a few steps.  
  
Kodachi frowned, stepped out of the waterfall, and shook her hair off,  
spraying cold water all around her. "It's just a little water, ohji-  
sama. Water never hurt anyone."  
  
Easy for you to say, he grumbled to himself, and crossed his arms over  
his chest like a stubborn two year old.  
  
"I don't want to. Use your magic, witch."  
  
Kodachi stamped her foot. "Ohji-sama, this is for your kingdom! The  
least you can do is help me out by lifting me up. I don't have a spell  
to scrape moss off the wall, and besides, my magic could damage the  
healing properties of it."  
  
Herb took a deep breath. Well, she was going to have to find out sooner  
or later. Wildly, he hoped by some stroke of luck that the water was  
warm, but judging by the way Kodachi was already shivering in the  
mountain air, he doubted it.  
  
Resigned to his fate, he pulled his cloak tightly around him and went  
over to the waterfall, hoping that the cloak could handle five gallons  
of freezing water a second gushing onto it.  
  
Step into the water . . . no change. So far so good. He leaned down,  
careful to keep his feet firmly on the ledge, away from the water, and  
picked up Kodachi by the knees easily, hefting her first to hip height,  
then up to his shoulders.  
  
Her suit was wet, but her body heat had already warmed it, so that he  
remained male. The place the moss grew protruded from the mountain a  
bit, so that while Kodachi's head got wet, the rest of her -- and him --  
stayed dry. Herb was amazed at that stroke of luck right there.  
  
Kodachi grabbed handfuls of the spice-moss, stuffing it into the basket  
she had brought along, until it could hold no more. Herb let out a  
breath in a rush. He had almost made it . . .  
  
"Down, ohji-sama," she said, tilting her soaked head to the side to look  
at him, inadvertantly flinging a drop of ice cold water onto one exposed  
hand.  
  
The drop's splash seemed to echo for a moment, and then everything seemed  
to go to slow motion as Herb's body rapidly shrank. Kodachi suddenly  
became inbalanced by the near-instant change, and they both toppled.  
Herb landed in the waterfall, clutching the ledge with one hand, while  
Kodachi managed to stay on the ledge while miraculously keeping hold of  
the precious spice.  
  
Dammit. She had been so fucking *close* . . . She dangled, the water  
rushing down on her, threatening to knock her off at any second. It was  
a long, long way down.  
  
The water pushed Herb's hood away, revealing her panicked expression of  
helplessness at the gender change and precarious situation. The cloak's  
fastener finally gave entirely and snapped under the weight of water. Kodachi  
quickly -- but carefully -- set the spice aside, then grabbed Herb's hand  
and hauled her up in a mighty display of determination.  
  
They collapsed in each other's arms, gasping in relief for a few  
moments. The ice water dripped heavily from Herb's cloak, forming a  
puddle around their feet that started to freeze as soon as it hit the  
stone.  
  
Then Kodachi noticed something odd, and Herb jumped back, quickly  
yanking the cloak around her body. But it was too late, too late . . .  
  
Kodachi stared at him in faint horror.  
  
"Ohji-sama . . ?" she said in in a slightly higher than normal voice.  
  
Herb muttered a few choice imprecations to herself, then sighed and took  
off her cloak. She started wringing it out.  
  
"Better get a fire going, witch," she said, hating that her voice was  
even higher than Kodachi's had been. "This is going to take a while."  
  
Kodachi, still not quite believing what she was seeing, followed the  
prince's orders mechanically, conjuring up a small pile of firewood and  
setting it on fire with her wand. Herb was so miserable and cold that  
she didn't bother chiding Kodachi for using her magic.  
  
-----  
Nerima, Tokyo, Honshuu Island  
-----  
  
"Shampoo not quite understand what you want," Shampoo said honestly.  
She had just come to deliver ramen, after all, but Nabiki and Kuno had  
jumped her, tied her up, and proverbally held the Ranma video in front  
of her nose like a tantalizing treat. It lay on the floor in plain  
view, Ranma's name clearly on the label. Shampoo could have easily  
broken out of their weak rope, overpowered them, and escaped, but the  
Ranma video ensured her compliance for the moment.  
  
She was planning on escaping the ropes, overpowering them, and grabbing  
the video before either of them knew what had happened anyway, but for  
the moment she would play along. This was interesting.  
  
"We wish to have the recording place into its appropriate unit, post  
haste, in order to view it." Kuno explained in his typical archaic  
fashion.  
  
"What Kuno-chan means is that we want you to put the tape in the VCR."  
Nabiki grimaced, then nodded toward the tape that still lay so  
innocently on the floor.  
  
"Why you no do it yourselves? Shampoo has deliveries to make." Shampoo  
started loosening the ropes around her wrists expertly.  
  
"Because we thought you might want to see it too," Nabiki said. Shampoo  
raised one purple eyebrow in disbelief.  
  
"Shampoo not see reason for not just showing it."  
  
"The foul beast Ranma would probably want only someone so pure as  
yourself to touch his possessions, being the evil lecher that he is. As  
such, I shall respect his loathesome wishes and leave it alone." Nabiki  
wondered if Kuno was serious or not, but the answer seemed to satisfy  
Shampoo. Then she absorbed the full impact of what he had said.  
  
She frowned. Okay, yeah, in one respect she was no longer quite as pure  
as Shampoo . . . Kuno had seen to that, and despite her misgivings about  
his intelligence level, he WAS rich and the sex HAD been good. Even so,  
Kuno was going to have to learn not to insult her so publically if this  
was going to work.  
  
Shampoo shrugged, slipped out of the ropes just to show that she could,  
and picked up the tape. She had taken but one step toward the VCR when  
she screamed in pain.  
  
Nabiki and Kuno watched in horror as human Shampoo grew a lovely set of  
kitty ears where her real ears had been, which slid up onto her head  
until they were in the proper cat-girl position. Claws formed on her  
hands, and her pupils narrowed to slits in pale lavender eyes.  
  
"What you do to Shampoo?!" she cried, and dropped the video.  
Immediately the claws retracted, but her eyes and kitty ears remained.  
  
"Damn," Nabiki swore under her breath, and plopped into the Kuno couch,  
frowning as she thought. Things that didn't involve money usually  
didn't interest her, but money itself was a kind of magic, and as such,  
Nabiki recognized strong magic when she saw it.  
  
Shampoo was tearing at her ears, but they stayed stubbornly on top of  
her head. Tears started running down her face, and she had to wipe them  
away quickly, lest they cool down too much and activate her curse.  
  
"This is getting serious, Kuno," Nabiki said, dragging her newly  
acquired male onto the couch with her. Kuno, who had apparently enjoyed  
the night before as much as she had, did not resist. "First you getting  
electrocuted, then me getting . . . you know, and now Shampoo becoming a  
catgirl? What sort of indiscriminate magic IS this?"  
  
"The twisted sister is, as I've said, a powerful, evil witch. This may  
very well be one of those Forbidden Spells she often goes on about."  
  
"If they're forbidden, she wouldn't be doing them."  
  
"Is Kodachi, Black Rose," Shampoo reminded Nabiki, and sat on one of the  
living chairs gingerly, as if she were afraid she had also grown a tail.  
"Nothing beneath her."  
  
"The Chinese Amazon speaks truth, Nabiki Tendou."  
  
Nabiki pounded her fist into her other palm. There just *had* to be  
some sort of connecting thread to all this . . .  
  
Shampoo's cat ears suddenly receded, and her eyes also returned to  
normal. Like Nabiki's curse, Shampoo's had only been temporary.  
  
"Shampoo human again! Now, pay for ramen. I leaving. You can keep  
video." Shampoo glared at them, and Kuno handed her several hundred  
yen.  
  
The Amazon left in a huff, leaving them no further along than they had  
been when they had ordered ramen.  
  
"Well, damn," Nabiki said, glaring at the video, which was beginning to  
get a little battered.  
  
"I hope that wherever the twisted sister is, she is recieving a suitable  
punishment for putting us through all this."  
  
"Karma works in mysterious ways, Kuno-chan."  
  
* * *  
  
-------  
Mt. Hebereke-yama, Daisetsuzan National Park, Hokkaido  
-------  
  
"So you . . ."  
  
"Have the same curse as Ranma," Herb finished before she could even  
start. "I didn't want to tell you. I don't want anyone to know if I  
can help it."  
  
Kodachi blinked, oozing sympathy. Herb hated her pity.  
  
"But how did Akane manage to curse you as well?"  
  
"It wasn't the half-bi -- it wasn't Ranma's fiance, it was the cursed  
training grounds in China, Jusenkyo. Both of us fell into the 'Spring  
of Drowned Girl.' Now, whenever we get splashed with cold water, we  
become female."  
  
"Powerful magic. So, you too seek a cure for it, then?" Kodachi looked  
very sad as Herb nodded. "So was everything about your kingdom a lie?"  
  
"No!" Herb denied vehemently, standing up in anger at her presumption,  
then realized that with all the information overload she was getting, it  
was quiet easy for her to jump to such a conclusion. She sat down  
quickly, calming herself. "No, not at all. I'm not that vain. I could  
have lived with it until the Jusenkyo springs, including the Spring of  
Drowned Boy, were restored -- a messy battle between Ranma and a Chinese  
kingdom ruined them a few months ago -- but the Cologne and I thought  
that this might be a cure, too. She wants it for Shampoo." She sighed,  
and started setting up a cooking pot to heat water. "The disease that  
struck my kingdom is real, and they danger they face is genuine. Any  
curse-curing was going to be just a bonus."  
  
"I see," Kodachi said, staring dejectedly at Herb's preperations. "But  
I saw you in the springs before . . ."  
  
"Hot water reverses the curse, but only until the next time. My biggest  
enemy is rain -- and waterfalls, for that matter."  
  
Kodachi said nothing as Herb stirred the water, waiting for it to heat  
up. Herb didn't have anything to say, really, either. It was all out  
in the open now. He had no more secrets; unless she was keeping  
something from him, they were now completely honest.  
  
Herb felt wretched.  
  
Now she'll never be able to like . . . to want to be with a freak like  
him. She had loved Ranma blindly, believing him to be just a victim of  
some black magic. But now . . .  
  
"I'm surprised no one has deactivated the training grounds, if they're  
so dangerous," Kodachi suddenly piped up, interrupting Herb's moment of  
self pity.  
  
"Deactivated them?"  
  
"Yes. Something dangerous enough to allow Muggles such instant contact  
with magic . . . it's probably because of politics in China, I'm sure,  
but it's still bad to allow something like that to simply sit there,  
cursing people left and right."  
  
"It's a tourist attraction," Herb explained, and tested the water by  
holding his palm just above it. Not quite warm enough yet. "It brings  
in much needed money to an economically deprived area. China may be a  
world power, but that doesn't mean it isn't still very poor in some  
areas."  
  
"So people pay to have a dangerous encounter with the occult?"  
  
"Essentially. It doesn't make much sense, if you put it that way . . .  
well, if I recall correctly, the park itself is a public place, but a  
few inns and restaurants eke out an existance by offering their services  
to the tourist trade."  
  
"Oh." Kodachi moved one boot away from the fire, where it had been  
drying, and moved another wet garment a bit closer. The fire was  
quickly drying the wet clothes, and it also quickly warmed the  
teenagers.  
  
Herb tested the water again, and decided another few minutes would be  
needed. If it was ready, it would have triggered the reversal just with  
him testing it with one finger, but like most Jusekyo victims, he  
prefered the water on a central body part. Being one gender in one part  
of your body and another in the rest is extremely nauseating, and a full  
body splash minimized that moment of change.  
  
"Ohji-sama, I'm sorry for putting you through this," Kodachi said, and  
hugged her knees close.  
  
"Don't be. It's something I've learned to live with." She stood up, and  
stretched a bit. "We're only halfway through this journey; we still  
have to make it to China now."  
  
Kodachi nodded, and rearranged the clothing again.  
  
Herb decided that the water, which was beginning to steam a bit, was  
more than ready. She picked up the pot, and took a deep breath, then  
threw it on her chest.  
  
"Much, much better," male Herb said, and wrung out his shirt. "As soon  
as we're dry, we can continue on."  
  
Kodachi stared at the fire, her dark gray eyes reflecting a dozen shades  
of orange and red within them.  
  
"Ohji-sama . . . I . . ," Kodachi began, then broke off.  
  
"What, Kodachi?"  
  
"Never mind. It's nothing."  
  
Herb did not press her.  
  
---------  
  
End Chapter 6  



	7. Seven

Spice of Life  
  
Chapter 7  
  
-------  
Deep in L-Space  
-------  
  
So, she had finally found out his secret. Setsuna closed the book, a thoughtful expression on her face. Were any man to find out her secrets -- guarding the Gate of Time, having been reincarnated, being the Princess of Pluto -- she doubted they would take it as well as Kodachi had. Maybe she should try to find a dimension sometime where most guys had more problems than she did.   
  
Note to self: Read more Takahashi.  
  
Setsuna had ended up in a slightly less public corner after Shinigami's uninvited interruption. She had curled up in a comfy armchair, in a particularly deep aisle that sank into the blackness of space a few feet behind her. Most of the junior librarians never trekked this far in fear of the tentacled monster books that had evolved in order to survive the nether regions of the library, but Setsuna knew that the secret to taming a wild book was to ignore it.   
  
She sighed and picked up where she had left off, wondering where the author would take her now.  
  
* * *  
  
The Spice of Life  
[Chapter 7]  
An Herb/Kodachi fic  
Written by Cat Who  
Requested by Prince Herb  
Beta Read by Rezantis  
  
For Daddy . . .  
  
* * *  
  
Their clothing now dry, the teenagers set about returning to Teninkyou-onsen in silence. Herb glanced over the ledge -- well away from the waterfall itself -- and decided to give his cloak up for lost. The secret was out anyway; if Kodachi saw him change, it was no big deal.  
  
The snow had mostly melted as they made their way down Mt. Hebereke-yama. Herb was careful to avoid stepping in any puddles that had formed.   
  
Kodachi remained silent, and Herb had the horrible thought that maybe she saw him as not simply a curse victim, but as a freak to be pitied. The very idea made his heart seize up in pain, and Herb cursed his stupidity for letting himself see the girl as anything more than the witch who would save his people.  
  
Save his people? He had never thought of it like that before, but Kodachi, not him, would be seen as the savior of the Musk. Gender aside, the Musk respected ability first and foremost, and with her unique magical powers she had something that none of the warriors had.  
  
He looked at her, as if seeing her for the first time again. She was beautiful in the classical way, with her high cheekbones, pouty lips, and sleepy gray eyes. She came from old wealth, and was strong enough to take on yazuka as well.  
  
She's fit to be a queen, Herb decided after he finished his evaluation. Unfortunately, I'm not fit to be a king at the moment.  
  
Herb wondered if his father had come home yet. Herb prayed he hadn't. The king could not fall ill; it was simply unthinkable. But while some of the younger people, such as himself and Lime, had managed to escape the illness, almost all the older ones had gotten sick immediately.  
  
"Ohji-sama, look," Kodachi said, breaking the silence and his chain of thought. She pointed ahead at a small herd of deer grazing peacefully on the plain.  
  
Herb paused, as did Kodachi, and they absorbed the tranquility for a moment. Herb suddenly felt very depressed. He should be rejoicing; his journey was halfway over. Yet somehow he still a poignent sense of loss. He did not want to go back to China the way things were.  
  
"I feel almost sad to be leaving this place." She sighed, and stared back at Hebereke-yama, a faint gleam of longing in her eye. "It's the magical field, I think. The mountain itself is lonely now without Hebereke-san to keep it company. No one ever visits it or hikes it like the other mountains. It's not us that is feeling sad, it's the land we're standing on."  
  
She knelt down and gathered a handful of snow damp earth. Herb watched her, confused, as she put it in one pocket, then clapped her hands together and bowed in the Shinto style. She stood up, and seemed to address the mountain directly.  
  
"Hebereke-yama, thank you for your gift. We will carry a part of you with us, and honor you as we travel."  
  
The feeling of sadness left Herb all at once, to be replaced by a feeling of joy. Herb glanced rapidly between the witch and the mountain, unsure of what had just happened. The Musk were not the most religious of peoples, but Herb realized that something deep and important had ocurred on a spiritual level.   
  
"More magic, Kodachi?" he asked as she dusted her hands off.  
  
"In a way. Part of the spirit of the mountain will travel with us now." Kodachi shrugged. "It's the least we can do. How would you like to be a mountain, stuck in the same place century after century? Hebereke-san had been a friend to this place. As one of the students of her school of magic, I too am a friend to this place. A friend does not simply take without giving something in return. This earth should be given to your kingdom once they are healed."  
  
Herb nodded in agreement, now understanding. Kodachi didn't want to be seen as a savior, either.  
  
She would still be fit for a queen, however. She would make a beautiful queen of the Musk. Herb had only seen his mother in a picture, but he could imagine Kodachi wearing the rich traditional Chinese clothing, draped in soft silks, with her jet hair pulled into a complicated coif that framed her large gray eyes.   
  
But she would not love him, and whereas Herb had never once imagined marrying for love -- he was royalty, after all, and marriages were mostly alliances for all intents and purposes -- he could not ask Kodachi to be trapped in a one-sided love.  
  
Love? Where did that come from . . .? Herb dismissed it as a wrong train of thought, but he could not get the idea out of his head.  
  
* * *  
Teninkyou-onsen, Daisetsuzan National Park, Hokkaido  
* * *  
  
The two teenagers were exhausted when they stumbled into the campsite late that evening. Two days of hiking in the mountains was beginning to wear on them, and Kodachi was more than ready for a good soak in the hotsprings.  
  
She sank into the steaming water with a groan, leaning back into the natural stone seat that had formed in the water. She was very surprised when the prince joined her.  
  
"Ohji-sama, isn't it dangerous to be around so much water?" she asked, genuinely concerned. It suddenly occurred to her that before the prince had not slipped but purposely fallen into the spring in order to prevent her from discovering his secret.  
  
"Not if the water is hot. I just have to be sure to dry off thoroughly before I go anywhere else." Herb was without his shirt and armor, clad only in a pair of tight fitting silken shorts. Kodachi discreetly admired his firm stomach and muscular physique, even though she had seen it before. She herself did not feel the least bit self conscious in her bikini. After all, it was Herb, not . . . not anyone else.  
  
When had she become so comfortable around him? With Ranma, she had been overcome by first love every time she saw him. With other men, she had been nervous, and she hid that by acting superior. But with Herb, she felt the urge to do neither. She felt calm and comfortable with him, as if she were more herself than at any other time.  
  
"The stars are pretty tonight," she commented, looking at the friendly waxing moon in the sky. In six days it would be full. In six days, she would have to perform a miracle that could save or destroy a nation. It was a heavy responsibility, she decided, that she had accepted without that much hesitation. First for love, then for sympathy, then for friendship.  
  
Ah, friendship. That would explain why she felt so comfortable around the prince. Friendship didn't quite sum it up, though.  
  
The prince's foot accidently brushed against hers for a second, then jumped away.  
  
"Excuse me," he said, reddening ever so slightly.  
  
"That tickled," Kodachi said with an uncharacteristc giggle, and touched his foot with her toe in revenge. "So I shall tickle you too." She wiggled her toe, causing the prince to laugh involuntarily.  
  
He quickly got himself under control, and tried to do the same to her, but Kodachi had tucked her feet far up against the wall. Herb glared at her, and started poking around with his toe, trying to find where she had put her missing limbs. He found her knee, and slid downward to her ankle, sinking chin deep in the water in order to do so.  
  
Kodachi laughed genuinely, not from the tickling sensation, but because the prince looked so determined to exact retribution for his foot's honor. He must have realized how silly they looked, because he quickly sat up again on his side of the small pool of water, his ears turning as pink as his damp hair.  
  
"That's the first time I've ever heard you really laugh, Kodachi," he said, and sent a current of warm water over to her with his foot instead.  
  
"You've heard me laugh before," she said, then realized that this laugh had indeed been different.  
  
"What you did before was a cackle that would have mummified a newborn babe. I like your true laugh a lot more."  
  
Kodachi pursed her lips in thought. "You know, I've never noticed it, but I think I was taught that laugh in school. All of my professors have a laugh sort of like that."  
  
"They're all witches, aren't they?"  
  
"Well, of course they are, ohji-sama. You can't teach magic unless you know it yourself."  
  
"Even your gymnastics coach?"  
  
"She also taught history."  
  
"Well, there you go. Your learned laugh is a witch's cackle. Your real laugh is a lot more beautiful."  
  
"Flattery will get you everywhere, ohji-sama," Kodachi purred, and splashed the warm water toward him with one finger.  
  
Herb ducked away, and Kodachi realized her mistake.  
  
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Herb-sama," she said. The water had cooled rapidly in the air, triggering his curse for an instant before the warm water of the hotspring reasserted itself.  
  
"It's OK," he said once he was back to himself. "You only just found out. But be careful."  
  
Guilt settled in, and Kodachi sat on her hands. She was going to have to be very careful indeed.   
To her utter surprise, the prince leaned over and gripped her shoulders. "Kodachi, listen for a moment."  
  
Kodachi nodded, wide-eyed. The prince's touch was sending jolts of electricity up and down her arms, and causing her toes to tingle again.  
  
"When this is over . . . if your panacea can cure curses like mine after all . . . then I . . ." Herb seemed to lose his train of thought for a moment, and his red eyes locked with hers in the dim light.  
  
"Ohji-sa--"  
  
"If I'm cured, then I want you to be more considerate of Ranma."  
  
Kodachi blinked, and she knew that it was NOT what the prince had intended to say.  
  
"I've given up on Ranma, ohji-sama."  
  
"Even so, be nicer to him. You have no idea how it is . . . once careless act of play can bring about years of humiliation."  
  
"How did . . . how do you cope?" Kodachi asked quietly, touching one of the hands that was still on her shoulder.  
  
"I locked myself away for several days, trying to find a fix on my own. Then I came to Japan for a temporary solution; my curse had been locked into place because of my own stupidity, and the fix for it was on Honshuu. That is when I met Ranma the first time." The prince finally let go of her shoulders, and leaned back. "I was cruel to him too . . . because he revealed the curse to my best friends in one of those acts of carelessness." He banged one fist against the stone wall, his face reflecting the bitterness of that memory.  
  
"They would have found out sooner or later, right?"  
  
"Oh, you'd be surprised how well someone can hide a Jusenkyo curse. While looking for the Open Water kettle -- the fix for the permanency of the curse -- I encountered someone else in Nerima who had not only been cursed with the Spring of Drowned pig for almost as long as Ranma had been cursed, he was the pet pig of one of your old rivals."  
  
"Pet pig . . . Akane's P-chan?" Kodachi covered her mouth in horror, and then put the pieces together. "Ryouga. He was more than welcome to Akane, as far as I was concerned. Anyone else?"  
  
Herb thought back to the fight on the mountain. "The purple haired amazon is a cat, if I recall, and the blind one is a duck."  
  
"Mousse and Shampoo. Cat and duck, made for each other." Kodachi stared thoughtfully at the water. "If I had a curse, who would I be?"  
  
Herb glanced her over, and shrugged. "I don't think there's a spring of drowned rose."  
  
"Silly," Kodachi said, and stretched. She had pruned up during their conversation. "Well, ohji-sama, I am about to go sleep. We still have a bit of hiking to do tomorrow."  
  
"Right," Herb acknowledged, and stood up at the same time as Kodachi, immediately grabbing a towel for his chest. Kodachi dried herself off quickly, and watched as the prince meticulously removed every drop of water from his body before the cold night air could cool it down. The process took several minutes as he took out one leg, then the other. Finally satisfied, he walked around to the other side, next to Kodachi.  
  
"Let's go, witch," he said, with an inflection that made the previously flippant title seem like an endearment.  
  
"Yes, ohji-sama," Kodachi answered in kind, and smiled secretly to herself. Something more than a friend, indeed.  
  
* * *  
  
That night, Prince Herb had a dream he had never had before.  
  
He was young . . . very young, perhaps no more than two. He was cradled in warm arms, arms that embraced him and secured him all at once.  
  
But suddenly he was torn from those arms, and placed in another, rougher pair that were not warm and did not feel secure at all.  
  
"My baby!" a woman's voice cried. "Give me back my baby! Basil, he's not ready for this yet." The voice broke into sobs, and the young Herb joined her, reaching out for her.   
  
"Rosemary . . . you knew the ways of our land when you married me." A man whom Herb realized was a younger version of his father hugged the beautiful, sobbing woman, and the contrast between them caused the young Herb to stop crying. His mother, for that was who she had to be, had white skin and silvery hair. She was a foreigner, Herb decided in his dream, and it was easy to see why anyone would fall in love with her.  
  
"No more, no more children then, Basil. Don't take away any more."  
  
"We will have only daughters from now on, Rosemary."  
  
The woman calmed, and looked longingly at Herb, who stared back, confused.  
  
"I wish you have been born a girl, my little prince. Maybe someday I shall have my wish . . ." The woman broke down sobbing again, and Herb's father signalled to the men to take Herb away.  
  
"Mama!" he cried, as it dawned on him that he was to never see her again. "Mama, I don't want to go!"  
  
"Hush, your Highness. My sister knew this was the fate of sons in your kingdom, and she accepted it before you were e'en born. We'll train you into a right fine laddie to make her proud." The cold arms, which were not unkind, squeezed the prince in friendship. "You're as late as we take 'em away, too. The wee ones you'll be startin' out with are not e'en out of nappies yet."  
  
Herb didn't quite understand the foreign words, but the tone was soothing and he wasn't quite so cold anymore.  
  
He forgot all about his mother.  
  
The dream ended, and Herb sat up in a cold sweat. He wiped his brow before the moisture could trigger the curse, and then lay back on his bed, trying to comprehend the full meaning of the dream.  
  
His mother had been Scottish.  
  
Why had he never remembered before?   
  
That meant he was half Scottish too, something he had never wondered about. He had always attributed his unusual appearance entirely to his draconic heritage. His father's dark blue and red hair must have mingled with his mother's shock of white in him, giving him the beautiful pink and true blue chunks that he was known for.  
  
Herb stared at the waterproofed silk roof of his tent, and blew out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Perhaps the biggest question was why this dream had come to him now, of all times. Was his mother even still alive? He hadn't been lying when he told Kodachi that he didn't know he had a mother until a few months ago. None of the young men of the Musk gave much thought to it; women as a whole were forbidden, so that warriors would be able to train without interference or distractions. Mothers especially might get in the way of that training.  
  
However, there might be a price for that attitude. Female warriors were nonexistant in the Musk, despite the fact that many of the women themselves had come from warrior backgrounds. At least, it dawned on Herb, he had always *believed* them to be nonexistant.   
  
In that moment Herb hated his culture, his people, his traditions. The price for training boys in segregation was simply too great. They were ill-prepared for the rest of the world; gone was an age in China where the greatest warlord would conquer all. With the current Communist regime, the rest of the country suffered enough. Minor kingdoms like the Musk were for the large part ignored except when it came to taxes. But some day, that could all change, Herb feared. Were China to once again fall to squabbling kingdoms and regional feuds like the old days, then the warriors could be called to arms. Worse, if China were to go to a world war, the small kingdoms would be expected to contribute manpower and supplies.  
  
There had to be something he could do. Herb felt the burning desire to *change* things, to bring the Musk Kingdom into the twentieth century where it belonged. Tradition was one thing, being foolishly stubborn was another.  
  
The prince flopped over in his sleeping bag, and started to furiously plan. First things first, he would track down his father and ask about his mother. He had a right to know. Next, he would find the mothers of Lime and Mint, and introduce them . . .  
  
He remembered suddenly about the illness, and his plans deflated rapidly. No, the kingdom would not be ready for changes so close to the tradgedy. Maybe after a few months. Maybe after a few years.  
  
Gods, it made him feel so impotent. He wanted to be back in China NOW. He wanted Kodachi to hurry up and cure everyone so they could go back to their regular lives, and he could go on with his. On the other hand, that meant Kodachi would go back to Japan, and he really didn't like that idea, either. He wanted Kodachi to stay with him as he brought the Musk up to snuff. She could even help, with her knowledge of French cuisine and train travel . . . and other important modern things.  
  
The vision of her dressed like his mother came back. This time, however, the colorful silk robes were replaced by her signature black and red, with her hair in the jaunty side ponytail. The idea did *things* to him that bothered him since he was supposed to have that particular part of his anatomy under control.  
  
Disgruntled with himself, the prince stuck his head under the tiny pillow he had brought along and started counting dragons in an effort to go to sleep.  
  
He had gotten up to two hundred and twenty six when the sound of rockets woke him up, followed by a lot of screaming.  
  
* * *  
  
Kodachi sighed as she looked at the charred roof of her tent, and sighed again as the prince barged into it for the second time in as many nights.  
  
"What happened?" he yelled, and covered his nose as he smelled the melted nylon.  
  
"I rolled over onto my wand. I was dreaming of fireworks," Kodachi said sheepishly, and picked up the offending piece of wood, from which dangled her gymnastics ribbon "This is why I usually keep it on the other side of the room from me. Wands can be very dangerous when used in an uncontrolled manner."  
  
"I can see," the prince said with a frown, and kneeled down in the text next to her, startling her. "But are you all right? Did you get burned or hurt?"  
  
"I am fine, ohji-sama," Kodachi insisted, and presented her arms and face to Herb. "Not a trace of ash or fire anywhere. The firework was mostly sound, I believe, and it originated from my hand." She picked at the charred fabric of the tent, crumbling a bit of soot between her fingers. "Regretfully, I cannot say the same for my tent. It is not something I can repair. I don't know the spell for mending fabric, and even then this is advanced transfiguration."  
  
"Well," Herb said, and Kodachi suddenly felt sheepish. Having an explosive dream was rather embarassing for a witch of any age, let alone a sixth year known for her icy control.   
  
"I'm sorry," she said, blushing.  
  
"You'll just have to share my tent for the rest of the night."   
  
Kodachi blinked.  
  
"Oh . . ."  
  
"Don't be silly or prudish or anything," Herb said before she could voice an objection. "It's too cold to be outside, and if it starts snowing again, you could really suffocate this time. It's only logical you stay with me."  
  
When he put it that way . . .  
  
Kodachi gathered her sleeping bag and luggage, and reluctantly followed the prince from one tent to the other. His tent *was* smaller, and they were a bit pressed for space inside.  
  
Kodachi curled up on one side, trying not to occupy more space than she needed too. The prince lay on his back, one arm above his head, looking a lot more relaxed about the whole situation than he felt.  
  
She resisted the urge to reach out and touch him. This is getting silly, she chided herself. When has Kodachi 'the Black Rose' Kuno ever been denied something she wanted -- well, besides Ranma?  
  
She was no simpering ninny to sit back and wait for the male to make the first move. She had pursued Ranma with her whole heart, and nothing had stood in her way -- not fiancés, not parents, not her brother, not even Ranma himself.   
  
But somehow, this was different. Her attraction to the prince was on many levels new. The utter devotion to Ranma seemed more and more like a dramatic plea for attention, something that should have been beneath her. With the prince, she could not continue to pursue him as long as she enjoyed the game. She would have but one chance, and if she ruined that chance, it would all be over. She would go back to Japan, he would stay in China, and their lives would continue separately, the memory of the two weeks they had spent together soiled by her improper timing.  
  
So, this time, she would wait.   
  
Still, as she drifted off to sleep, her fingers stretched out, as if she was trying to grab onto the prince before it was too late.  
  
* * *  
  
What the HELL had he been thinking?  
  
Herb kept asking himself that over and over again, as Kodachi slept peacefully beside him. It was one thing to share a hotel room. But a tent was more personal. Her hand lay inches from his side, and one of her feet was touching his. Unlike their horseplay in the tub earlier, the innocent gesture caused his already uncomfortable physiological state to worsen.   
  
She shifted, and Herb asked the gods for aid. Sleep was out of the question like he was.  
  
Think of horrible things, he told himself. Imagine that it's not tempting, delicious Kodachi there . . . but that old hag of an Amazon, Rinsu. Or Lime. Or the half-bitch. Anyone but the witch.  
  
It was nearly an hour before Herb managed to get his raging hormones under control by reciting the death counts of ancient Chinese battles. Battle of Musk vs Dong Yim: 3 Musk, 470 odd Dong Yim. The three Musk warriors had been taken prisoner and tortured to death. Herb wondered if there had ever been Chinese libido torture. Strap Musk warriors to a pole, and parade nubile young dancing ladies in front of them. Watch them struggle until they go insane and rip their arms out in an effort to reach the women.  
  
Hmm. Probably wouldn't be too effective, but it was sure as hell annoying imagining not being able to touch Kodachi if he wanted to.  
  
Wait . . . no, no thinking of Kodachi in sexual situations . . .! But it was too late. All the nubile women in his mind looked like Kodachi. They gyrated and gamboled before him, flashing brilliant smiles as their tall, lean bodies shimmered in the firelight.  
  
Herb groaned. He was back to square one again.  
  
Finally, Herb gave in and crept out of the tent towards the woods. Unless he did something, he wasn't going to get ANY sleep that night.   
  
No one saw him as he slipped through the shadows, and he was glad. "Chinese Prince caught wanking off in Japanese National Park" would be a very, very embarassing headline.  
  
* * *  
  
Nabiki and Kuno looked glumly at the video. It had lain there since that morning's failure by Shampoo.  
  
They had tried tongs, furniture, Mr. Turtle, and various other assorted objects. Each time Kuno had gotten electrocuted, and Nabiki had gotten a bit hot and bothered. She had finally given up, because Kuno was smelling a little smoky, and she had pretty much worn him out.  
  
"Well, damn. We're going to have to find SOMEONE that can pick up the video."  
  
"There is no one left in Nerima upon whom I would wish to inflict such toture," Kuno said, twitching slightly from residual shock. "I despise electrocution." He actually shuddered.  
  
"Really? Well, I imagine it doesn't feel pleasant, but I've never stayed up worrying about getting struck by lightning or anything." Nabiki saw Kuno blanch. "Don't tell me you--"  
  
"Kuno Tatewaki is afraid of no man, no woman, and no lighting," Kuno said emphatically, and crossed his arms as he stared traight ahead.   
  
"Uh huh." Nabiki pondered a bit. "You know . . . one thing I did always worry about was losing control . . . Kuno, I think we might be on to something."  
  
"The Chinese Amazon is afraid of turning into a demon?"  
  
"No, no . . ." Nabiki frowned and leaned against Kuno, thinking hard. "She's most afraid of losing Ranma to Akane."  
  
"But she turned into a cat."  
  
"And Ranma is afr -- doesn't like cats. I think that may be it. Your sister's spell brings the holder's deepest fears into reality." Nabiki stared glumly at the video.  
  
"And this helps us HOW, Tendou Nabiki?"  
  
"Well, let's see, Kuno-chan. If Ukyou picks it up, then Akane and Ranma might get married." Nabiki brightened. "Although it's doubtful." She stroked Kuno's hand absently while she thought. It had been surprisingly easy to bring her childhood crush on Kuno back to life, especially with the aid of that video.  
  
"We have to be careful who we let pick it up from now on. Even though the effects could be temporary, it can still wreak havoc on people's emotions."  
  
"If it brings one's deepest fear to reality, then there is no one safe to pick it up."  
  
Nabiki patted his hand.  
  
"We'll think of something. After all this trouble, I damn well want to know what your sister has on my future brother in law."  
  
* * *  
  
Kodachi woke up as the prince returned to the tent. She hadn't even noticed his absence before, and she wondered foggily how long he had been gone before drifting off into a half-fantasy, half-dream about her and the prince. Once they got to China, she performed her duty, and then started to go back to China. The prince declared his undying love for her, and asked her to be his wife.   
  
"Yes, ohji-sama," she murmured, and snuggled into her pillow, pretending it was him.   
  
She introduced the Musk to women's lib and French cuisine. The Musk Kingdom saw the error of their apartheid ways and allowed her to be with Herb all the time, even during training. But the nights . . . oh, their wedding night would be the most important time to be with him.  
  
The things her mind concocted that as she half-slept were wicked beyond belief, but unlike the prince, she was content for the moment with fantasies and dreams. She *would* act on her desires, but as she had resolved before, only at the right time.  
  
But when would the right time be? She had six days left now. Six days to convince the prince that she was indeed a capable, desireable woman, and not just a friend.  
  
Could she do it?  
  
Then Kodachi remembered: she had brought along the love potion from last week.  
  
The secret, powerful love potion. The wonderful, deadly love potion. Belatedly, she should be glad she had not used it on Ranma, since the fates had obviously not intended him for her.  
  
The potion in the little red bottle acted as an immediate or delayed aphrodesiac. One sniff even was enough to trigger the reaction. What it did was cause recipient to carry the potion as a poison or aphrodesiac until they declared their love for someone. If that person accepted them, it turned into an urgent aphrodesiac. If the person rejected them, it became a poison that only a witch could cure.  
  
Perhaps that scheme HAD been over the top. The premise for the "if I can't have him no one can" aphrodesiac was that the person dosed with it was simply not doing anything about an unrequited love he had. Kodachi, in her blind naivete, had believed that Ranma's constant denials were simply manipulations from her rivals. In the even that she was wrong, she would have resorted to blackmail of course.  
  
I'm glad I didn't make him go through that. Perhaps the prince is right. I *have* been rather inconsiderate of Ranma.   
  
But now that was over, and she no longer wanted Ranma. She wanted Herb.  
  
For this, she had to be genuine. Fancy potions and magical gimicks or doctored photos weren't the real path to true love. Only mutual attraction and respect could work.  
  
She returned to her cozy fantasizing about the Prince. Mutual attraction. Well, now, that meant she had to do her best to be attractive. No more buns or business suits. The ski suit was workable, but the train ride back to Hokkaido would require another wardrobe direction entirely. Perhaps a visit to a boutique before thei left Sapporo would be in order.  
  
Kodachi began forming Operation: Seduce Herb. Planning for seduction was something she had a feeling she'd be good at.  
  
* * *  
  
Overhead, the stars shined merrily down upon two tents, one charred to cinders, and the other containing two very frustrated teenagers. The crickets and cicadas who chirped for the last remaining days of autumn knew nothing of their lives, and if they had, would not care. In the grand scheme of things human happiness means nothing and everything.  
  
* * *  
  
End Chapter 7  



End file.
